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CHAPTER I
The official Gazetlexa paper which ap-
pears in Karlburg every Sktuyda^ brought i
out, on the 18th of April, the'^^ioifewing^ 1
notice : ^-O / ^
"After a most thorough and detailed
examination, HisHighnessthePrinceHeredi-
tary graduated from the Gymnasium. There
were present, at his examination, His Serene
Highness the reigning Prince, His Excellency
the Secretary of State von Brandenburg,
His Excellency Chief Councillor of State
Baer, Councillor of Schools Dr. Finke,
Directing Professor Schneidewind, and all
the Professors of the Franz George Gym-
nasium. In Greek, Latin, German, EngKsh
and French, the Prince ranked No. 1; in
mathematics and the natural sciences, No.
2a; in rehgion, history and geography,^
Nos. 1 and 2. The whole certificate is
No. 1, equal to 'Summa cum laude.' On
Cc>i>i^lc
OLD HEIDELBERG
May 1st, His Highness the Prince will enter
the University of Heiddberg for one year.
His Serene Highness appointed C. Juttner,
Ph.D., as tutor and companion for His
Highness. Dr. Juttner has been the tutor
of His Highness for the past eight years,
and has been rewarded with the title of
Councillor of State in appreciation of the
examination so splendidly passed."
On the 30th of April, the day before
leaving for Heidelberg, the new Coimcillor
of State was commanded to appear before
His Serene Highness, the reigning Prince.
The Prince, a man old before his time, and
with a gloomy face, was sitting before his
large writing desk, and opposite to him
sat the yoimg Prince.
"Doctor, you know my views; I wish
the scientific education of my nephew to be
continued in the same serious manner as
heretofore. After finishing his year at
Heidelberg, the Prince will join the Hus-
sars of the Royal Guard at Potsdam, but
tmtil then, I want you to tmderstand that
this year at the University must be spent
in serious scientific studies, and not in
seekiag for pleasure. The Prince will find
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
opportunities enough in Potsdam in con-
nection with his comrades and equals, to
become acquainted with a life of freedom.
But tmtil then, I wish his studies and
mode of Ufe to continue in the same
regular course as heretofore. Have you
imderstood me?"
The little Doctor bowed so low that his
Order, the Cross of Saxony, hung at right
angles to his breast. Then, with another
bow, he was dismissed.
He went through the long, dark corridors
to the right wing of the castle, where his
two rooms adjoined those of the young
Prince. A mouldy air, such as is found only
in these old castles, filled the gloomy halls,
and the April stm, shining sometimes
through the flying rain clouds, found
scarcely any room to creep in through the
low bow windows. Servants were gliding
like shadows through the dark halls, and
only when their dim figures passed the
windows did their liveries glitter for a
second in red and gold.
On the other side of the castle the cor-
ridors were still darker, the walls thicker,
the windows like loopholes, and the air
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
so thick that the Doctor could hardly
breathe. He was a friend of good Munich
beer, but this very beer had rewarded him
badly for his friendship, for it had made
him, especially in the last few months, so
Stout that he suffered with asthma.
" Heidelberg will do you good," said his
friend Dr. Schneider, "there at least you
can run about and climb mountains."
"Yes, I think Heidelberg will do me
good," he kept sighing for weeks.
He was thirty-five, but he looked ten
years older.
"It was my misfortune," he often said,
"that I came to Court. I was such a
merry, joyous fellow, and what has be-
come of me ! My ideals are destroyed,
liberty has gone, and now my health is
broken. They have suffocated me at the
castle."
His fiiiends laughed at him, and said :
"Now, look at this doctor; he leads a
life Uke a prince, and while other school-
teachers are starving, he dines on the best,
buys stocks and bonds, and wins decora-
tions!"
But he said sorrowfully :
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
" No, no, it is the truth they have suflFo-
cated me up there."
But now, at last, those terrible eight
years were over. He sat down in his dress-
coat and Orders, and drank his "Cusinier
jaune."
Two big trunks were standing packed
before him, waiting only for his dress-suit;
then the servant could take them away.
Those two dear trunks! Symbols of
liberty!
And Heidelberg! To-morrow!
No more of those tedious dinners, no
more Secretaries of State and Court Cham-
berlains, no more lackeys and coar^ — "-
nothing more of this great, terrible
where it is an impossibility to b
properly !
But there is Karl Heinrich, who
go with him.
Karl Heinrich, the hereditary Prii
"I could never have stood it if
not been for that boy."
Before him, on his desk, stood five
photographs in beautiful frames, al
cated to him : "To his respected tea
Karl Heinrich." "To his very dear
5
byGooglc
OLD HEIDELBERG
C. Juttner, Ph.D.— Karl Heinrich." "To
his faithful mentor. — Karl Heinrich."
The first picture shpwed a healthy look-
ing boy in a riding suit, about twelve years
old, with a pretty, open face, and large
eyes like a girl's ; the others were of later
years. The face had become thinner and
more sedate looking, the curls were gone,
the hair was cut short, in military fashion.
He took these pictures in his hand, one
after another, and, at the same moment,
the past eight years passed before his eyes.
Those years, with the same tedious daily
repetition : dinners, bows, little work and
very Httle pleasure, the envy of his col-
leagues, many new dress-suits, many new
white waist-coats, a high decoration, a
great title, always sitting in carriages,
always yawning, and, as a result of it all,
fatty degeneration of the heart — ^the same
disease from which the Strasbourg geese
suffer !
"Go for a walk after dinner for two
hours," that's what his friend preached to
him every day; and now, looking at his
watch, it was time to begin this tedious,
dreaded task.
6
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
But the poor Doctor did not find strength
for this great hardship. "First, it may
rain at any moment," so he thought, " and,
again, it is absolutely of no use to tire
myself out on the last day. This will all
be changed when I am in Heidelberg; then
I will run aU day long. I shall, perhaps,
get my health back, if I am carefiil, and if
I do not eat and drink too much, and do
a lot of mountain climbing with Karl
Heinrich."
A nice fire was burning in the open fire-
place and he felt very comfortable in his
soft, easy chair, so he shut his tired eyes.
When the Prince, about half an hour
later, entered the Doctor's room, he found
him snoring heavily. He smiled and cov-
ered his knees, then he left him quietly.
And the Doctor was dreaming that he
had again become as thin and straight as
he was fifteen years ago, when he walked
into Heidelberg to begin his own studies.
The express train stops in Karlburg only
when the Prince or some high Court official
wants to travel by it.
Comingintothe open station, the lackeys
opened the door of the Prince's waiting-
7
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
room, and the reigning Prince, in General's
uniform, leaning heavily on the arm of his
nephew, stepped upon the platform. Twice
he embraced him, and then the young
Prince entered a reserved compartment.
The doors of the other compartments,
out of whose windows gazed the curious
faces of the travellers, were shut. After a
nod from the Court Chamberlain, the sta-
tion-master gave a signal and the train
began to move slowly.
Karl Heinrich was standing at the win-
dow, and, once more, bowed respectiully
to his uncle, and, just as the train drew
out of the station, his eye rested for a mo-
ment upon a group of officers and equer-
ries, and then upon some workmen, who
were giving him a miUtary salute. A few
seconds, and they were all out of sight.
He sighed deeply.
But he still remained at the window,
while the Doctor was looking for his trav-
elling cap. Karlburg disappeared, for a
short distance the train ran through the
Langhagen forest, then past Rotenberg and
Hude and now— the Prince knew the spot
well— the train passed the frontier.
8
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Once more he sighed deeply. Then he
turned round to his companion, who was
loofcingthroughatra-vellingbag. He smiled
and said: "Are you looking already for
the wine, Doctor?"
"No, I have the bottle, but I cannot
find the corkscrew. I am dying of thirst."
For some time they talked about this
and that, but as usual, the Doctor turned
the couYcrsation to his own person. He
took out of his pocket a yellow book, en-
titled : "Nature's Own Cure for Stoutness
and Fatty Degeneration of the Heart,"
and showed the Prince some passages
marked in blue.
"I am going to live, irom now on, ac-
cording to this method. No more butter,
no fat, no oil, no rice, no turnips, nor
anything else that is forbidden. Please
read this. It is going to be done in Heidel-
berg, and that without fail."
Karl Heinrich, who was as straight as
a young tree, had studied all the other
books about the Doctor's illness, so to
please him, he began to read this one,
with all its long and tedious recipes; "In
the morning, a cup of coflFee or tea with
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
a little milk, and 75 grammes of bread.
At noon, 100 grammes of soup, 200
grammes of boiled beef, 25 grammes of
bread. In the evening, two soft-boiled
eggs," and so on.
But, finally, it began to tire him.
"This must stop, Doctor, at least for
to-day, when we are on our way to Heidel-
berg." He touched him on the shoulder.
"Why, we two are alone and there is no
one to annoy us ! I can scarcely believe
that it is really so. I am going to throw
the book out of the window, if you don't
put it away."
The Doctor smiled sadly:
"You are right, Karl Heinrich," he said.
But, curiously enough, the pleasure and
joy of this day, to which he had been look-
ing forward for weeks and months, would
not come now.
"It is too late, now," so he thought,
"it ought to have been a year earlier.
Karl Heinrich will have to bury me in
Heidelberg." And, while the Prince was
standing at the window, there rolled over
the Doctor's fat cheeks, two tears, which
he wiped away with the back of his hand.
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"How quickly everything is passing,"
said the Prince, "it is marvellous. Just
look here, Doctor; how it all flies past us.
There is a stork! Here in this meadow,
quick, look, come here!"
The Doctor looked out to please him,
but he saw no stork. To him the bird
was without any interest whatever.
"I could stand all day at the window,
when everything is flying past. There are
villages and hills, which I have never seen
before. There, do you see that mill! Isn't
it grand ! "
Karl Heinrich was as excited as a child
who makes his first railway journey. Only
once in his Ufe had he taken a trip, when he
went with his uncle to Dresden to pay a
visit to the King, but that was years ago.
Railways were seldom used in Karlburg,
for in this Uttle princedom good horses
are quicker and more convenient.
And at aU the stations, strange faces —
Enghshmen, officers, all pushing and hust-
ling each other— with nothing of that quiet-
ness and rest as at home in the castle of
Karlburg.
In Eisenach and Bebra, Herr Lutz, the
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Prince's valet, came, with hat in hand, to
the door of the compartment, to inquire
after His Highness' wishes. He did this in
such way as to attract the attention of all
the other travellers, who stared hard at the
Prince.
Karl Heinrich said, with greater violence
than was his custom :
"Stop that, I won't have it. Stay in
your compartment. I wish to travel with-
out creating excitement."
He wondered at his own audacity in
speaking like that to Herr Lutz, for it
really was audacity, as Herr Lutz had been,
until now, second valet to His Serene High-
ness, much respected by all Court officials,
feared by the lower servants and made
much of by all who came with petitions to
the Prince. Much had been made of his
appointment as valet to the young Prince,
for it seemed like a position of confidence
and trust, in which he should not alone be
his servant, but where he should also watch
over his mode of Ufe.
Herr Lutz colored when he was thus ad-
dressed, and, for a moment, seemed to lose
self-possession; but he controlled himself.
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
bowed, and returned to his place in the
train.
But, two hours later, when they arrived
in Frankfort, hungry and thirsty, and Lutz
did not appear, the Prince grew impatient.
What was he to do now?
"Quite a simple affair," said the Doctor,
"we will go ourselves."
"We ourselves?"
"Yes, we will go to the waiting-room,
we have twenty minutes."
" But "
" What then? It is quite natural that we
should go."
"Very well, then."
There was a large crowd at the
and for some moments, the two
separated.
Somebody pushed from behind, i
Karl Heinrich came right in front
buffet; the next moment, somebody
to him :
"With what can I serve you, sir!
He felt quite upset, and the youn
an, a nice girl with coal-black eyes,
impatient :
" Please take something, there an
scb^Gpot^lc
OLD HEIDELBERG
waitmg. Do you want sausages or a cold
cutlet?"
Quite helpless, lie looked for tlie Doctor,
then he took two fat sausages just wrapped
up in paper.
"Forty pfennig."
He felt in one pocket, then in another,
still in another — in none could he find any
money.
"Forty pfennig, sir."
" Yes, yes*'— he was still looking for
some money.
People behind him crowded and pushed,
calling for beer. He felt quite beside him-
self. Never before had the Prince been
in such a situation — in his left hand he
held the sausages, and with his right he
searched for money. He felt that he was
becoming red with shame and embarrass-
ment.
The young woman felt pity for the hand-
some young fellow, and said :
"Take the sausages now and bring me
the money afterwards."
At last, the Doctor had been able to
make his way through the cro'vd, and he
paid. They then pushed their way back
14
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
and sat down at an uncovered table, where
they quickly swallowed the hot sausages.
"Where are the gentlemen going to?"
asked the porter, a big bell in his hand.
"To Heidelberg."
"Well, then, you have another quarter
of an hour."
"Here, take a glass of beer!" called the
Doctor after him, taking three glasses from
the tray of a waiter. The porter came
back, thanked them, and said: "I drink to
your health. Is the young gentleman a
student in Heidelberg?"
" You have guessed it," said the Doctor,
who was now in fine humor.
"Then I wish you a happy journey."
"Thanks."
The Prince sat there as in a dream. He
took one of the Doctor's cigars and blew
the smoke in the air. Two gentlemen came
to their table and, without asking or bow-
ing, sat down next to them. Nothing was
done with ceremony, everybody came and
went as he pleased, nobody troubled him-
self about any one else. At the next table
sat about a dozen young girls with a Sis-
ter from a convent, all accompanying a
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
iriend to the station. The whole twelve
seemed to have concentrated their attention
on him — Karl Heinrich — but not with awe,
like the young ladies of Karlburg, for they
looked roguishly at him, smiled, and seemed
to enjoy his embarrassment.
"What life here," said the Doctor, "isn't
it great?"
And the Prince just nodded.
Besides the dozen young girls, there was
no one who took any notice of him. No-
body troubled about him. A big, tall
man pushed against his chair without
apologizing.
"Waiter," called the Doctor, "bring beer
for two and be quick about it."
Karl Heinrich looked timidly at his com-
panion. It was wonderful how the Doctor
found his way in this pandemonium. He
hardly recognized him. It was as if he had
been frozen in Karlburg and was now thaw-
ing out. According to the medical books,
he was not allowed to drink beer, and now,
he drank two, three glasses, in ten minutes.
The Doctor arose:
"It is time. Frankfort is a fine town,
we shall come over next week and enjoy
i6
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
ourselves. It is not so far from Heidel-
berg."
While they were sitting in the train, the
yoimg ladies came out of the waiting-room
and promenaded up and down. When the
train started, they all looked at him, and
one of them took out her hEmdkerchief and
called out : " Good-bye."
"They are fine girls, these Rhenish girls,"
laughed the Doctor. "They have more
life in them than our young ladies."
Frankfort disappeared, and Karl Hein-
rich again stood at the window, his hot
forehead pressed against the cold glass.
Girls — women — that was something new
in his life. Educated in a -very strict and
doister-like manner, without friends of his
own age, and apart from everything that
was not in the closest touch with Court
life, he was also kept distant from every-
thing called "woman." The reigning Prince
was a widower, without children, and for
years there had hardly been any festivals
at Court; in fact, the Court at Karlburg
was nothing but a bachelor household kept
in great style.
Twilight fell over the country, and when
3 17
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
the train passed Darmstadt, the -villages of
the Bergstrasse lay in the dark of the night.
Here and there lights passed, and, some-
where in the West, not an hour's distance,
flowed the Rhine. The Rhine ! South Ger-
many ! Over there, on the right, the moun-
tains of the Odenwald, up to the present
known only in geography, and now close
by — ^near enough to touch them !
The train rapidly passed through the
night. Farther and farther it carried Karl
Heinrich away from the cold North; the
joyless youth, the dark castle, and the
winter lay behind him.
byGOOQJC
was now in fine humor. "I feel like a new
man, after sucli a sleep."
Herr Lutz, eternally with hat in hand,
helped His Highness to alight from the
compartment. Then he got out the bags
and umbrellas and gave them to the Court
courier, who had been for three days in
Heidelberg to find quarters for His High-
ness, to lease carriages and to do all that
couriers, especially those who travel in
advance, have to attend to.
They all went — the courier as guide in
front, followed by Herr Lutz— through the
long station to where the carriages were
waiting.
The courier stopped at a nice landau
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
and opened the door, but, just as the
Prince was stepping in, the Doctor held
him back.
"Let us walk, it is such a beautiful
evening."
The courier looked surprised at Herr
Lutz; he, just as surprised, at the Prince;
and Karl Heinrich, equally astonished, at
the Doctor.
"Walk?"
"Yes, and why not?"
"If you think so "
"Where is the residence?" the Doctor
asked of the courier.
"Market Square, No. 18."
"Very well."
And the two actually walked through
the town, leaving Herr Lutz, the courier
and the carriage, behind in the dark.
Karl Heinrich had never walked much,
at least, not in the streets of a town. When
he went through Karlburg or other small
towns of Saxony-Karlburg, he generally
went in a carriage, rarely on horseback,
but never walking. It seemed to be an
impossibility that the Prince or the heredi-
tary Prince or other foreign Princes, should
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
ever touch the Karlburg payement with
their boots.
And why so? Not even the Lord Cham-
berlain could have given an answer to
this, but it seems that old custom had
made it a law.
Just as in the station at Frankfort,
strange persons passed the Prince; he had
to go out of his way, hke everybody else,
and the cabs coming from the station
through the narrow streets, passed him so
closely that once he took hold of the Doc-
tor's arm, actually frightened.
"Why, they drive over one here!"
"You have to look out," the Doctor
said, dryly.
The streets grew broader, and walking
became easier. It was nearly ten o'clock,
but the air was so warm, on thi^
May evening, that many people
before their houses. Girls, without
promenaded, arm in arm, up and dow
smiling and sometimes Imighing aloud |;
students, in great numb
girls, nodded to them fsd
lively crowd, full of southern
Music was heard from
vGooqIc
OLD HEIDELBERG
crowd of men and bo3rs appeared, and with
a large band and many torchlights, a
procession of students passed the Prince.
They marched two by two, on each side
a torch-bearer, all looking very jolly, and
laughing at all the girls they passed.
"What is the matter?" asked the Doctor
of a looker-on.
"These are the Korps students, who are
celebrating to-day their opening ' Kneipe.' "
First came the YandaUans, in their red
caps, with a golden ribbon representing the
Baden colors; then the Saxo- Prussians, in
white caps; afber these, the green West-
phaUans, the yellow Suevians, the blue
Rhenish and, at last, the dark blue Saxons,
wearing little violet bouquets in their caps.
The three presidents of each Korps were in
full student's uniform : cerevis, velvet coats,
white leather trousers, high black riding
boots, and swords in their hands.
More than one looked sharply at the
Prince, who stood right in front and looked
with wide-open eyes at the procession.
This elegant looking young man was cer-
tainly a new student— perhaps he could
be won for their Korps.
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
The narrow street had been so crowded
with noise and music, men and smoke, that
it seemed now, after they had all gone,
very quiet and lonely.
"Well," said the Doctor, with a triumph-
ant smile, as if he alone had arranged this
all, "well, wasn't that fine?"
"Grand!"
"Such things as these happen every day
in Heidelberg. They are always jolly."
They went on, and, in a few minutes,
just as the clock in the church tower struck
ten, they found themselves at No. 18 Mar-
ket Place.
When they saw the house, they both
hesitated for a moment, for, in spite of its
broad and well-lighted vestibule, it did not
look as the Prince— and perhaps the Doc-
tor, also— had anticipated. On the left of
the entrance was a barber shop, already
closed ; on the right a large grocery busi-
ness, where barrels of dill pickles, lentils
and dried apples, blocked half the en-
trance.
The young clerks, and a fat servant girl,
were curiously watching Herr Lutz, who
had already arrived, and who, with a very
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
cross face, was excitedly talking to the
ftightened Court courier.
"It was the best apartment in the whole
town of Heidelberg," said the courier just
then, "the most expensive one in the town.
There are eight rooms, Herr Lutz."
But Herr Lutz impatiently kicked an
empty petroleum barrel with his patent-
leather shoe, and said : " You should have
telegraphed this. Then we would not have
left Karlburg, we would have waited a little,
until proper quarters could have been se-
cured."
The Prince and the Doctor now came
out of the shadow of the street into the
light of the entrance :
"Is this the right place, Lutz?"
"I am sorry to say it is. Your High-
ness."
The poor courier became white as a
sheet.
" Have you looked at the rooms, Lutz?"
"I have Your Highness. It is a very
old house, impossible for Your Highness to
live in."
The Prince hesitated. This first day's
journey, with all its new impressions and
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
new ideas, had already considerably shaken
his views. He saw everything in a new
light, but still, he was not yet able to
correctly judge all the things surrounding
him.
Should he enter this house at all, or not?
There was such a look of helplessness on
his handsome and youthful face, that Herr
Lutz believed he could win back all the
prestige which he thought he had lost in
the morning.
"Would Your Highness prefer to go to
the Prinz Carl Hotel? It is only a hun-
dred yards from here and the trunks can
be brought over at once."
Here the Doctor spoke up :
"Why not have a look at the apartment
first?"
The Prince nodded assent, and they
entered the house.
Herr Lutz had lost again. Until to-day
this Doctor had been to him the most in-
different of men. He was only a school-
master, such a one as Princes want, a
man whose position at Court counted for
nothing, and whose influence, compared
with that of a valet to the reigning Prince,
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
is as nothing. And now, this, to him !
The fat fellow took it into his head to
treat him, Lutz, Uke a lackey! Why, he
acted as if he had been the Prince himself!
He ground his teeth: "I shall repay
you for this!"
The stone flooring in the vestibule had
been freshly cleaned and was covered with
white sand; in every comer of the stairs
stood brightly burning lamps, both large
and small; the strong bannister was so
heavily covered with evergreens that it
could not serve the purpose for which it
was intended. Upstairs, they heard voices,
the rustle of women's garments, a loud :
"He is coming!" — then a closing of doors,
and then, solemn silence.
When the Prince, followed by his small
suite and also by the clerks and the fat
servant, arrived on the first landing, they .
fotindvthree old women and a young girl,
all bowing deeply to him and waiting to
receive him. He recovered his self-possession
at once, now, for he knew such receptions
only too well. Again he was the Prince
before whom everybody bows.
The girl, with a bouquet of hlacs in her
36
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
hand advanced a step and again made a
deep reverence. Then looking, with her
large brown eyes, straight into his, she
said, in a clear voice, without fear :
"Welcome to our Neckar valley,
To the place to us so dear.
To the dreams and joys of students
And the life of freedom here.
And as token of this welcome
Lilacs now I bring to you,
And I ask that later memories
Shall be faithfiil, fond and true."
"Please take it," and she offered the
bouquet to him.
. Karl Heinrich had been standing there
like a statue, with his eyes and those of
the girl fixed upon each other. One of the
old women addressed him now, and said :
"Will Your Highness do me the great
honor to look at the rooms? I am Frau
Dorffel."
He nodded. He wanted to say something
to her and to the girl also, but no words
passed his Ups.
Politely, with the large bouquet in his
hand, he followed the old lady, who first
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
triumphantly showed him the sitting-rooms.
"It is here," she said, "that Count von
Bredow lived last year." Then his bedroom;
then, further on, two nice Uttle rooms, "for
the Doctor," and then a rather poorly
furnished back room "for the servant."
Herr Lutz, who followed two steps behind
the Prince, turned as pale as a sheet. "Ser-
vant ! " Why, that word sounded horrible.
Karl Heinrich also seemed to feel the
injustice of the term.
"You mean the room for my valet?"
"Yes, for him."
The good woman had not yet finished :
with lamp in hand, she showed Vtirn every
room, "for one should become familiar
with a new apartment," she said, and the
Prince followed her obediently, still carry-
ing the bouquet, and smiling only once.
At last, they returned to the large sitting-
room.
A small table was covered with plates,
beer bottles, wine caraflfes, bread and butter
and cold meat. In the center stood a large
cake, surrounded with ivy leaves, with
three roses looking out of the hollow in it
center.
28
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
"Now, if Your Higliness would care to
eat "
"Yes, thank you."
There was no farther talk of going to
the hotel.
"Now, you all get out of here!" called
Frau Dorffel, for besides the Doctor, Lutz,
the courier and the four women, there were
the two clerks and the fat servant girl,
who had accompanied them and who were
now looking curiously at the arrangement
of the table.
" Does Your Highness wish for anything
else?"
"No, thank you."
"Well, everything is there; fresh water,
towels, candles, matches — Katie, see if there
are any matches in the bedroom."
The young girl went in and looked :
"Yes, there are two boxes.'
"Good-night, then, Your Highnesij^
hope you will sleep well after your
)oumey, and that you will have pie;
dreams."
"Thank you."
He took her fat hand and felt \
pressure on his own. The yij^
29
GooqI^
OLD HEIDELBERG
came up to him and wished him a good
night's rest.
Midnight. All was quiet, everyone was
asleep, even Heir Lutz, who had for about
an hour walked up and down in his little
hole of a room, like a tiger in his cage.
There was no wardrobe in this room, only
a few hooks concealed by a cotton curtain.
No mirror, no special washing table, and
such a common iron bed, covered with
figured caUco.
"I am not going to sleep in that bed.
I'd rather keep awake all night."
As an only ornament, there was a picture
of Saint Sebastian hanging over the bed.
The Saint, though bound to a tree and
pierced with many arrows, looked almost
smilingly into the world. Herr Lutz found
no pleasure in looking at this patient Saint.
He was a man cast in a different mould.
"Just wait until to-morrow," he thought,
"just wait! I shall write to the Lord
Chamberlain — no, I shall even write to his
Serene Highness."
A sandwich and a bottle of beer had
been placed in his room. He would have
preferred to throw them out of the window,
30
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
but now he felt hungry and, sitting on the
colored bed, he ate and drank his poor
supper.
Cheese!
The tears nearly came into his eyes
with rage.
What would the lackeys in Karlburg
have said, if they had seen him here, hke
this ! He, Herr Lutz, who, every evening
must have a good glass of claret and whose
stomach had, for years, been so bad that
the chef was in a continual worry how to
satisfy him!
If, in this hour, Herr Lutz had had his
way, he would have blown Heidleberg into
the air. He would have bound the courier
before one cannon, the Doctor before an-
other, and the woman too !
Herr Lutz did not think so cruelly about
the Prince, but he hoped that Karl Hein-
rich would himself feel the consequences of
his haste and stupidity. "I bet he won't
stay here ! "
But, at last, all-comforting sleep brought
peaceful dreams to the worn out Lutz.
The Doctor lay heavily snoring. Indeed,
under any circumstances, be it in carriage,
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
chair, railway or bed, he slept well — only
too well for his thickening blood.
Karl Heinrich was the only one still
awake. He tried to sleep, but could not;
this day had brought too many new things.
He twisted and turned in his bed, which
was as dainty as a lady's and, at last, he
struck a hght and got up.
It was a remarkable room, with furniture
of olden times, chairs with high backs and
thin legs, a sofa and, over that, a golden
clock under a glass cover.
On the window-sills were long red
cushions, with embroidered covers, and the
windows themselves were Dutch sash win-
dows, composed of many little panes, and
the Prince only discovered their working
after a time.
There was a curious, but not disagreeable
smell in the room, partly of fresh linen
£uid partly of apples. With hght in hand,
he looked at the pictures : Paul and Vir-
ginia, The Disturbed Wedding, Bismarck,
The Spanish Dancer — Lola Montez, then
again Paul and Virginia, a student's fight,
and, all over the room, any number of
students* photographs, all in the same
32
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
cheap frames. Most of them had a dedi-
cation: "To Frau Dorffel," — most likely
pictures of those who had once lived therej
Some of these pictures were only silhouettes,
but the colors of the cap and of the sash
were never omitted. Many of the pictures
were old— 1848-9, 1853, 1854-5. Forgotten
people, perhaps long since dead. They had
all slept in the old oak bed, had all looked
out of that window. An eternal coming
and going, always new faces, new youth —
always new youth. And now he was the
new one ! Karl Heinrich ! The heir of all
the others! Attentively he looked at one
photograph after another— many of the
names he knew — Karl Hohenlohe, Fursten-
berg, Prinz Weimar, Bredow
Then he opened the window and looked
out on the market place, where, here and
there, burned a gashght. The night was
as warm as in July and he breathed the
soft air deeply.
From time to time, the music struck
up in the Prince ' Karl Hotel, where the
student festival was being held, and clearly,
through the quiet night, could be heard
the strong voices of the students :
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
*' O alte Bnrschenherrlichkeit."
The stars shone brightly above the
houses and only occasionally could he hear
any footsteps on the streets.
He was so tired that his eyes nearly
closed, but, smiling, smiling as only one
can who feels perfectly happy, he remained
leaning at the window, until the first cocks
crowed and until the eastern sky above
the Neckar valley grew Ught.
byGOOQJC
-sl
4
"r^
\
^y-,-
^-l
w
CHAPTER ni
^'m
^
"Come dj."
"May I bring your breaMast?"
It was the young girl of last night who
entered the room.
Karl Heinrich was still in his shirt-
sleeves—he thought it was Herr Lutz who
had knocked. For a moment, he was so
surprised that he forgot to answer her
amiable "Good morning."
"Did Your Highness sleep well?"
"Yes, thank you."
"The bed is quite soft," she said, touch-
ing the embroidered pillows, "but princes
are accustomed to that."
While she laid the table, he looked every-
where for his coat, but could not find it;
it was either in the next room, or Herr
Lutz had taken it out.
"Shall I pour the coffee?"
"Yes, thank you."
" One piece of sugar or two?"
"One, please."
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
He was still looking for his coat. The
whole situation was so new to him that
he did not dare look at Katie.
"What are you looking for?"
"Nothing."
"Won't you taste the coflfee?"
She cut up the bread and put butter
on it: "Here you are," she said.
"Thank you."
Her innocent actions made him quieter,
so that, in spite of his shirt-sleeves, he
sat down and began to eat. The girl leaned
on an armchair and watched him.
"Does it taste all right?"
"Yes, thank you."
He was so short in his answers that,
for a moment, she herself felt embarrassed,
but only for a moment. "He is a prince,"
she thought to herself, "and they are al-
ways a Uttle bit tiresome." Otherwise, she
was immensely pleased with him. What a
fine waistcoat he had on, and the beautiful
silk tie, and his face, — why, with his fair
hair, he looked almost like an Englishman.
The door opened and Herr Lutz entered,
or, rather, he did not enter, but stood
there, totally dumbfounded.
36
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
The Prince in shirt-sleeves, taking his
breakfast, and that impudent person look-
ing on !
"Your Highness!"
"What is the matter?"
"The breakfast "
"Well, what is it?"
"The breakfast. I see Your Highness
has it already?"
"Yes, the young lady brought it."
Karl Heinrich said this in a shghtly em-
barrassed tone, for, naturally, it would
hurt Herr Lutz to have strangers assume
his rights and duties ; but Herr Lutz made
such an oflFended, stupid, wicked and ar-
rogant face, that the Prince l
cross.
"Leave the room! Wait o
I call you ! "
Herr Lutz stood there as i
lightning. He had not heard
could not be possible!
But, at any rate, whether h<
rightly or not, the pointing oi
ness' hand was extremely clear,
right to the corridor and there i
to do but leave the room.
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
There he had to stand in the draughty
corridor, over the floors of which the fat
servant girl continually poured water. The
only safe place was his horrible back room,
but there he found Frau Dorffel, who was
washing the floor. "Stay outside, I am
cleaning here now."
So up and down he walked, in his thin
patent-leather shoes, on the wet floor be-
fore the Prince's door, and waited. Either
in the railway or last night, in that misera-
ble bed, he must have caught a cold. He
sneezed three times, six times, twenty times,
again and again, and every time, the fat
scrub woman wished hira "Your health,
sir ! "
"Wait until I call you," so the Prince
had told him, but he did not think of do-
ing so.
And the girl didn't come out of the room,
either.
Herr Lutz placed his ear at the door
and tried to Usten, but could hear their
conversation but indistinctly.
"This is scandalous," he thought, "it
begins fine, and the first day, too ! "
So he waited a quarter of an hour, a
38
sceyGoOqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
half hour, three quarters of an hour. At
last he grew nearly desperate. The fat ser-
vant had gone, everything was quiet, only
the wreathed sign of "Welcome" laughed
in his face.
Karl Helnrich, stiU in his shirt-sleeves,
was sitting in his armchair, smoking one
cigarette after the other, and Hstening
laughingly to Miss Katie's chatter.
What a lot she had told him in this one
hour ; that she was eighteen years old, that
she came from Krems on the Donau, very
far away, how many student Korps there
were in Heidelberg and where they had
their drinking places, the name of the rector,
that the great poet Victor von Scheffel was
then in Heidelberg, that next week there
was to be a torchUght procession, that she
had two of her best friends who became en-
gaged on the same day, that wine was very
dear this year, but good, and so on. Then
she began to question him like a judge :
"Have you ever been in Heidelberg be-
fore?"
"No."
"Or in Tubingen?"
"Nor there, either."
byGoot^lc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"Have you any brothers?"
"No."
"Or sisters?"
"No."
"Or parents?"
"They are dead."
"Oh! how terrible!"
She looked at him with as much pity as
If he had just come from the cemetery, but
then it came to her mind that she fared no
better.
"My parents are also dead."
"Oh!"
And in spite of the bright sunshine and
their former good humor, they looked at
each other with the conventional expression
of sorrow.
"For Frau Dorflfel is only my aunt,
or great-aunt. I am only here to help
her."
She had cleared the table more than half
an hour before, but still held the tray in
her hands, and, sitting on the arm of the
easy chair, she looked very downhearted.
Karl Heinrich silently looked at her. She
really seemed quite foreign, so different from
the blond girls in Karlburg. The face was
40
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
brown, the curly hair very dark and the
eyes jet black. There was something very
graceful in her figure, and her whole appear-
ance was almost gypsy-like.
She shook herself, as if to put ofi" these
sentimental feelings.
"I don't like to go back to Austria. I
always should like to stay in Heidelberg,
it is so beautifal here." Before he could
reply, she continued, with a quick change of
thought :
"Did you Uke that poem which I recited
to you yesterday?"
"Yes," he said, gallantly, "I found it
beautiful."
"No, it was not beautifiil."
"No?"
"I did not want to learn it by heart,
at first, but aunt, Frau DorfFel, insisted
upon it. Now, if you had looked diflferently
when you came up-stairs, I would have
given you the flowers, but would not have
recited the poem."
"Look difierently? How should I have
looked diflferently?"
"Well — so ," she colored up, "I don't
know."
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
Laughingly he got up and came over to
her.
"Miss Katie, how did you want me to
look?"
He put his arm round her shoulder and
bent close to her. For a few seconds they
looked at each other, then he kissed her.
His £rst kiss.
The girl couldn't defend herself, for, in
her hands, she held the tray with coffee-
pot, butter-dish and cups; but, as he wanted
to follow up the first with a second kiss,
she stepped backwards.
"No, no!"
"Katie "
"I won't have it! I won't have it!"
She stamped her foot and for a moment
she looked very angry.
Then there came an awkward littie pause;
she took the tray on her left arm, brushed
back her black locks with her right hand,
and said:
"I want you to know, now and for
always, that I have been engaged to be
married for nearly a year."
Karl Heinrich was very much embar-
rassed, he felt very stupid. He was going
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
to say something, but could only stammer
a few words. His first modest love affair
was a total failure. Under those cir-
cumstances, he imagined, perhaps, that he
had committed an unpardonable crime, a
shameful act, against this trustful,
hearted girl; at any rate, his face s
such repentance that she was angr
herself, now, for having talked in s
harsh manner to this handsome ;
Prince. How charming he looked, w
irightened red face. Why, he was really a
darling !
To comfort him, she said :
"Well, one can call it an engagement.
But Franzl must wait a long time yet for
the wedding. He wants it badly enough,
but I will not have it. Do you think I
talk with a strong Austrian accent?"
' ' Austrian accent ? " he didn't under-
stand what she wanted ; this jumping from
one subject to another eatirely confused
him.
" I have lost my Austrian accent because
I don't like it, and because Franzl talks
Hke that. He is a Viennese."
"Bideedl"
byGooqlc
)LD HEIDELBERG
u think that he lived here in
inrich had really not thought
i at all, because it had all
been too quick for him, but, to reply, he
said;
"Yes, I thought so."
Katie laughed, as if he had made an ex-
cellent joke, she had to set the tray down
on the table, for her violent laughter endan-
gered the cups. "Franzl has never been
out of Vienna in his life, except to Hun- ^
garia. He is such an awfully slow fellow.
Do you know what he does? He deals in
horses."
"In what?"
"He buys horses for cabs, in which pur-
suit he is clever. Some time ago, he
brought two snow-white horses from Hun-
garia, which he sold afterwards to Coimt
Nicky Esterhazy."
"But "
"Look here, this is Franzl." She turned
round and took out of her dress a small
photograph, which had lain on a very warm
place over her heart.
He looked at the picture and Katie's
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
head bent over his arm so that she might
also have a view of it.
"Isn't he handsome?"
"Very!"
"The moustache is the best, isn't it?"
"Yes, indeed!"
Franzl had had the photograph taken
in full dress, a rose in his buttonhole, a
top hat with a flat brim, a little on one
side of his head, a long, thin Virginia cigar
in his mouth, and in his extremely large,
gloved hand, a whip mounted with a silver
horse's head.
Doesn't he look smart?"
"Hm!"
"And still, I won't have him."
He looked very much surprisec
"First, he might easily be my
for on Peter and Paul's day he
thirty-two, and, secondly, I am m
to Vienna, — I don't like it."
" But "
"It's this way. Great-aunt
brother was Franzl's father and my
was cousin to Franzl's father. The;
said, even when I was quite smal
should marry him. Last St. Joha
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
wrote to ask me if I would, and they all
said I should. Then I said 'Yes,' but I
also said : 'Not directly, for I want to wait
a little while.' "
She took the picture and looked at it
pensively.
"He is really a good fellow. Look at
his eyes?"
Karl Heinrich grew first hot and then
cold, with all her talking. She was stand*
ing so close to him that her dark locks
touched his shoulder, and, speaking quickly
and excitedly, her young breast rose and
fell under her close-fitting waist.
"Well, everybody has to marry. Isn't
that so? And I can't stay forever in Heid-
elberg, can I?"
"No."
She put her hand to her eyes to wipe
something away, then she laid Franzl's
photograph among the dishes, sighed deeply
and took up the tray again.
"I must go, now."
She wanted to pass him, but he held her
just a moment and— he could not help it-
gave her a second kiss. In the first mo-
ment, it was a rather frightened kiss, b^-
46
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
ging for forgiveness, but when the red,
warm mouth did not draw back, he pressed
his lips more firmly, more closely and more
warmly to hers.
"Katie!"
Both were breathing hard. For a mo-
ment, he released his hold and drew back
his head to look into her face. Then he
kissed her again and again, until a shiver
ran over her and she silently released her-
sdf from his embrace.
"No more "
"Sweet Katie!"
"And what is your name?"
"I? I am called Karl Heinrich."
"Two names?"
"Yes."
"Karl — Heinrich — that sounds so
strange." Then suddenly she passionately
threw her arms round his neck :
"Karl Heinrich!"
Herr Lutz jumped away from the door
when it suddenly opened, but without look-
ing at him, the girl, with red cheeks, passed
across the corridor. He looked at his gold
watch: "An hour and a half!"
About ten minutes later, when he finished
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
dressing his master, he had great fun watch-
ing how His Highness tried hard to appear
unconcerned.
"How is the weather, Lutz?"
"Fine, Your Highness."
"Isn't to-day Wednesday?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
All unnecessary questions, only put by
those who, for some reason, feel guilty.
And if anyone could see through His High-
ness, it was Herr Lutz. He knew these
high people well, who never have the cour-
age to own up to their stupid actions and
who like to hide everything even from their
own valets. Small, weak characters, with-
out any energy.
Hereditary princes are not Uke reigning
princes, their outside position is in many
cases almost void. It happens a thousand
times that hereditary princes never occupy
the throne. To count upon them as a
certainty is about equal to playing in a
lottery.
"No," Herr Lutz said to himself, "I
don't care for Heidelberg. I shall return to
Karlburg, for one who, like me, has His
Serene Highness' confidence, need not be a
48
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
lackey. His Serene Highness is fifty-six
years old, and may reach eighty. By that
time, I can save enough to laugh at all
hereditary princes,"
And, while brushing his new master, he
thought :
"Wait until I return to Karlburg and
*ell my stories. They will open their eyes
then."
The Prince seemed to have gotten over
his embarrassment very quickly: "Hurry
up, Lutz, and go out and see if the Doctor
is ready."
With a very wry face, Herr Lutz came
back:
"The Doctor was still in bed, but is get-
ting dressed now."
" How the dickens is this possible ! Why,
it is twelve o'clock!"
Laughingly the Prince went across the
corridor, nodded to Katie, who was stand-
ing in the kitchen door smiling at him, and
hammered with his fist on the Doctor's
door.
"Doctor, Doctor, why, it's noon!"
"All right, I shall be ready in five min-
utes."
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
The Prince waited before the Doctor's
door, still looking at Katie, who, curiously
enough, suddenly seemed to find various
things in the corridor to attend to. At
last the Doctor appeared, dressed very
hurriedly.
"One moment, Lutz! Where is Lutz!
Lutz, come here and help me. First, pull
this tie down in the back— that's it. One
moment. Brush my coat, Lutz, and then
go and get me some coflfee."
"We will go for a ride," said Karl Hein-
rich, who, putting on his gloves, was still
flirting with Katie.
"We will walk, not ride."
"Very well, then."
And Lutz pulled down his tie, brushed
his clothes and fetched the coffee. He did
all this with the gentle quietness of his
standing, but, inwardly, he was boiling.
Why, this was beating everything, the im-
pudence of this schoolmaster ! To treat him
as a servant, as a lackey for everyone!
" Brush my things off, go and fetch coffee ! "
Why couldn't the noble sir brush his coat
himself! Herr Lutz was nowtrembhngwith
excitement.
so
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
The duties and rights of a princely valet
are just as strongly fixed as those of a high
State official. He has only to look after
the personal wants of his master, and has
nothing to do with coarser work — absolutely
nothing. The difference between a valet and
an ordinary lackey is not to be mentioned
in the same breath. The one is an artist,
the other an artisan. Herr Lutz fetching
coffee for a schoolmaster ! It was some-
thing laughable, or, rather, it wasn't any
laughing matter at all. And Karl Hein-
rich suffered this! Instead of saying:
"Doctor, I wish to draw your attention to
the fact that Herr Lutz receives his orders
from me personally," His Highness only
stood there quietly and watched Lutz as he
brushed. It only remained for the school-
master to say to him: "Clean ray boots."
If he had only said it! Something awfiil
would have happened.
The Doctor took his new top hat and,
though it was warm, for variety's sake he
put on his elegant new Spring overcoat,
and looked altogether like a very well
groomed gentleman. But, seen by the side
of Karl Heinrich, he cut a sad figure, not-
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
withstanding. The one, tall, straight and
youthfiil-looking, the other, small and very
£at. A casual observer would have won-
dered what could ever have brought them
together.
They had to feel their way down the
stairs, on account of the darkness, and,
in the vestibule, they passed between rows
of cases ; but when they stood before the
door, there was glorious sunlight.
"Then we really won't take a carriage,
Doctor?"
"Oh, no! On such a beautiful day as
this, we will walk to the castle."
Even to-day, Karl Heinrich could not feel
at home while walking. It seemed to him
so singular to be walking in broad daylight
through the streets, and to have neither
carriage nor servant following. He felt like
those over-nervous people who fear the
traffic of the streets and lose all security
while crossing a square. It was fortunate
for him that he had the Doctor for a com-
panion.
" What beautifid weather ! " said the Doc-
tor, "why, it's reaHy hot. To-day I feel
like a human being." He looked all the
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
girls who passed him, in the face, and
quietly he thought : " Who knows what this
Heidelberg may do for me yet. Perhaps in
my old days I may make a new resolution.
My God, if I could only love again, a real,
true love "
They made slow progress, for Karl Hein-
rich stood before every shop and, Uke a
curious child, looked into every window.
There were lots of things he had never seen
before, and which the Doctor had to explain
to him. Suddenly it overcame him Uke a
child:
"Let's go inside and buy something."
"Buy what?" asked the Doctor, sur-
prised.
"That doesn't matter. I just want to
buy something."
And so they bought : two silk ties, gl|
penholders and pens. Ink, writing pX
visiting cards, an elegant writing
which Karl Heinrich presented to the Do&
tor, and, at last, for six marks,
bracelet with little coins {
"For whom is this?"
"For ^Ess Katie."
"What Katie?"
ooqIc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"The one who recited the poem yester-
day."
"Is her name Katie?"
"Yes, she is called Katie."
And now, for the first time, it entered
the Doctor's head that he had slept the
whole forenoon. He merely coughed and
looked at the Prince sideways; that was a
good beginning.
"Well, he is right," he thought to him-
self, "youth is youth. If only I were twenty
again!"
Everything on the mountain was in fiill
bloom, and, as they cUmbed up, the slowly
receding city presented a magnificent pic-
ture. The bright sun shone on all the
slated roofs, over there was the Oden For-
est, in hght May green, and, now, they see
a long silver ribbon, which shone brightly
on the other side of the city.
The Neckar !
They both said it in one breath: "The
Neckar ! "
Then they stood still for a while, look-
ing up and down the river.
The Neckar! Coming from Suevia, the,
home of Schiller and Uhland, the Suevia of
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
the Hohenstau&n emperors. It flows past
the old fortress of Tubingen, to Eeutlingen,
to Stuttgart, through Heilbronn, passes
the castle of old Berlichingen, and on
through a country whose very soil breathes
history and poetry.
And, at last, the Neckar reaches Heidel-
berg, spreading out in the distant, level
plain of the Rhine. The river does not end
in Mannheim, as the geographies teach —
no ! it ends in Heidelberg. It ends as no
other German river does : in a fairy tale
of beauty.
Quickly they climbed up farther, and,
through the old portal of red sandstone,
they entered the castle garden.
A few guides stood at the entrance, but
inside, amongst the old ivy-covered trees,
everything was quiet. During the noon
hour the strangers were at their hotels,
the students, at the same hour, were in the
town drinking their " Fruhschoppen" and
the Heidelbergers themselves have no time
to stand around.
A squirrel was chmbing through the
ivy, otherwise everything was quiet. And
silently they went ferther, over the bridge
55
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
in the castleyard, and on the gallery,
and, coming back, they passed the ruined
tower.
Sometimes the Doctor spoke a few words,
but the Prince answered in monosyllables,
or only nodded.
After some time, in which the Doctor
made the firm resolution to come up every
day, to cure his asthma, Karl Heinrich
said :
"We will take a bottle of wine. Do you
care to?"
"Yes," the Doctor answered.
"Will you have a cigar?"
"Yes, thank you."
So they sat imder the green roof of the
old trees and drank and smoked. They
spoke a little about the castle and the
beautiful day, and then both again relapsed
into silence.
The sun, just shining through the leaves,
the great silence, the wine and cigar, the
long walk — all this made the Doctor very
sleepy. He tried to resist the influence, but,
with a great efibrt, he only succeeded twice ;
the third time his eyeUds could resist no
longer, and opened no more.
S6
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
Karl Heiurich, receiving no answer to a
question, noticed after a wHle that his
companion had dozed off once more.
He smiled. He wasn't angry with him —
no, quite the reverse. He leaned forward
in his chair, his elbow on the table and his
head on his hand. Had he ever been so
happy in his life before? No, never. A
thousand impressions had entered into his
life, both yesterday and to-day, but no
dissonance had come, everything sounded
harmonious in one happy accord. Katie,
liberty, Heidelberg, the Neckar, the castle,
Spring, the golden future — ^a stream of joy
and pleasure!
Katie ! He took the silver bracelet and
let it glitter in the sunshine. Will she be
pleased with it? Shall he buy her a better
one? He put it round his wrist and did
not take it off again. It seemed to him as
if Katie had already worn it, as if it was
almost a part of her, something to grasp
which brought her closer to him.
Suddenly, in this quiet noon hour, a
tremendous noise was heard; twelve stu-
dents, with dark-blue caps, came through
the garden, called for the waiter, ordered
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
beer and, with the addition of three large
dogs, they made such a racket that even
the Doctor moved and seemed about to
awake.
" Kellermann ! "
"Yes, sir."
"Kellermann, hurry up the beer!"
"All right, sir."
"Kellermann!"
"Well, sir?"
"Tell the waiter to bring the bill of
fare ! "
"All right, sir."
" Kellermann ! "
"Well, sir?"
"Tell him to bring cigars!"
"All right, sir."
Without hurrying particularly, Kel-
lerman passed Karl Heinrich, went into the
inn, and appeared, after a little while, as
an assistant to the waiter carrying beer
"Kellermann!"
"Well, sir?"
"That dog is running over the flower-
beds ; go and catch him I "
"All right, sir."
58
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
But Kellermann did not catch the dog,
he only whistled. In a very husky voice, he
called a few times: "Here, come here!"
and when this failed, he simply stopped.
" Kellermann ! "
"Well, sir?"
"Go and get three postal cards!"
"All right, sir."
He passed Karl Heinrich for the second
time, and the latter now watched him more
closely. He wore a kind of uniform and a
porter's cap of dark-blue color, his exter-
ior appearance showed him to be a servant,
but never — at least, not to Karl Heinrich's
well-trained perceptions — could any one re-
semble a servant less than did this man.
He seemed to run at a little trot, but with-
out getting on more quickly than other
people who walk quickly, his nose was blue
and his moustache, in contrast with other/
smooth-shaven servants, was drooj
The eyes looked sad, — ^they seemed
look straight ahead and to see nothinj
right or left. Nor did he look %t. t
Heinrich as he trotted twice quitf
past him.
"What a remarkable perso^^
59
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
the Prince, but, naturally, Ids attention
was drawn more toward the students.
They sat so far away that he could hear
nothing but their laughter and when they
called for Kellermann ; still, he could watch
them. They all wore caps and sashes in the
Saxon colors, which was all that showed
them to be students. There was nothing
in their dress to remind one of the old
traditional student figures as they appeared
at that time— end of the seventies— either in
books or on the stage. No old-fashioned
velvet coats, no high boots and no tobacco
pipes— no, they were smart-looking boys,
who seemed to enjoy themselves immensely.
In spite of the early hour, they drank
great quantities of beer. It was amusing
and interesting to watch them.
Something stirred in the Prince a long-
ing, an unfamihar feeling of loneliness. He
looked at the fat Doctor, who, while asleep,
seemed suddenly to have grown quite old.
The Doctor was certainly a good fellow,
with whom Karl Heinrich had been on the
very best of terms for a number of years.
Why, this Doctor had been the first and
only one who, in the sticky atmosphere of
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
the Karlburg castle, had brought fresh,
new life, and some joy, into the Prince's
cold youth, but
In that hour, Karl Heinrich understood !
Understood that those at home in Karlburg
had cheated him out of his whole youth !
Servants to play with him, servants with
whom to ride, servants year after year, from
morning till night, always those who were
paid for their services !
Until yesterday he had been blind ! He
had known nothing of life, absolutely noth-
ing! He had been a prisoner in a golden
cage, with no more freedom than an ani-
mal waiting to be slaughtered.
A tall, handsome-looking student passed
him.
" Come along, Kellerman, we will make a
Rhine wine cup."
"Very well, sir."
The Prince looked after him with tired,
heavy eyes. It would always remain so,
as long as he lived !
Suddenly, the waiter came running along
and touched the astonished Prince on the
shoulder.
" Just look there, sir ! Look at the gen-
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
tleman who is coming in alone ; that's Herr
von Schefiel."
"Where?"
"There, sir, there!"
' ' Doctor ! ' ' Karl Heinrich shook the
sleeper. "Wake up, wake up!"
"What! What!"
"Schefifel is coming. Do wake up!"
"Yes, yes."
This was Sheffel, he who had written
Ekkehard and the Rodenstein songs!
In the meantime, the waiter had run over
to the students to tell them, creating a
sensation at the long table. Herr von
SchefFel came very rarely to his beloved
Heidelberg and some of the younger stu-
dents had never seen him.
There he came!
One of the students called to the others
and, then all of them, stood up and sang :
-, ^"'Wohlauf, die Luft geht rrisch und rein
/*-<*j .-a-t^^ "^^ Wer lange sitzt muss rosten !
-->'/ x,^,,.,.**^ fen allersonnigsten Sonnenschein
Lasst uns dw^Himmel kosten— "
This merry song of woods and fields
was sung to its author with so much ani-
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
mation, such animation as is only possible
to youth on a perfect spring day, in honor
of the darling of Heidelberg.
He smiled, and, as the twelve blue caps
of the Korps students saluted him, he took
oflF his own hat, and passed on.
Karl Heinrich followed the example of
the others. He took off his hat and bowed
deeply. The poet also smiled at him and
returned his salute.
Slowly he went on, until, at last, he dis-
appeared among the trees of the park. For
some time the words of the song followed
him, until they ended joyfully :
"Hallaho; die Pforten brech' ich ein
Und nehme, was ich finde.
Du heiliger Yeit von Staffelstein,
Verzeih' mir Durst und Siinde."
" Cantus ex est ! Hurrah for the poet ! "
The glasses clattered on the table.
« « « « «
It was five o'clock in the afternoon when
the head-waiter in the Hotel Prinz Carl
served the dessert to His Highness and the
Doctor.
Both were tired and very quiet. The
63
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
curious glances of the hotel guests, the
servile waiters, the long, monotonous din-
ner — all this, after the earlier hours of the
day, seemed so tedious that they brought a
return of the old Karlburg "ennui." The
first intoxication of Kberty had passed for
both,
A waiter came in, with a visiting card,
and, giving it to the Doctor, said :
"The gentleman is outside, and asks if
it is possible to see you for a moment."
"See me?" The Doctor was surprised
and looked at the card : Conrad von Gra-
benitz, student at law. "Who is it? I
don't know him. What does the gentle-
man want?"
"He asks if he may speak to vou for a
moment."
"WeU!"
"You might ask him what he wants.
Doctor," Karl Heinrich said, quietly.
"Very well, tell the gentleman that I
am coming."
The Doctor got up, a little out of sorts.
Unlike other people, he was always in a bad
humor after dinner, because he knew wdl
enough that, as usual, he had eaten too
64
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
much. He found the gentleman in the smok-
ing-room, a smart-looking young man,
whose face was scarred in a number of
places.
"My name is Doctor Juttner."
"Von Grabenitz."
"Please take a seat."
"I took the liberty of presenting myself
at your rooms, but was told I would find
you here."
"WeU!"
"I want to ask the favor of an intro-
duction to His Highness."
"The hereditary Prince?"
"If you will be kind enough."
"And why, may I ask, why?"
"I would Uke to ask His Highness if
he would honor my Korps to-night with
his presence. We celebrate the opening of
the term with a great 'Kneipe.'"
Aha ! The Doctor smiled. He ought to
have thought of that before. There is
nothing more important, in the beginning
of the University year, than the pledging
of new members for the different student
Korps. And to catch "a Prince! Why,
that would be a pretty job ! What would
S 6s
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
they say in Karlburg, if Karl Heinrich,
the hereditary Prince, should become a
member of a student's organization. Well,
the Prussian Princes and even the Crown
Prince in Bonn do so, but Berlin is by no
means Karlburg. There was no doubt
that the reigning Prince would not like it,
and he, the Doctor, would, of necessity,
bear all the blame. He was not sent to
Heidelberg to enjoy himself, but to give
the proper guidance to an inexperienced
young Prince. He saw the faces of the
Karlburg courtiers when such news should
arrive there, the apoplectic features of the
Lord Chamberlain, the expression of Herr
von Baltz, all looking with horror, disgust
and fear at His Serene Highness.
But Karl Heinrich !
How the boy would thaw out at last !
He would become human, Hke others !
What did the Doctor care, any way, for the
disgrace. In a year, Karl Heinrich's edu-
cation would be finished and then— well,
he would have to turn to something else.
And how fine it would be to play a trick
on those old Karlburg fogies ! Of course,
he would never receive the first Cross of
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Saxony, he would never become a Secret
Councillor of State, would never again be
invited to Court— but, what did that matter
to him!
Karl Heinz, once his little Karl Heinz —
the boy who hardly dared to breathe at
home ! His dearest Karl Heinz ! For him ! I
He got up :
"WUl you follow me, please?"
And, firm and serene, as if it were a
mere nothing, the Doctor stepped over the
threshold of the dining-room, his rubicon,
forever shutting off from him the possibility
of beautiiul Orders and high titles.
byGooqlc
brotlier-in-law of Frau Dorffel and was,
therefore, somewhat distantly related to
Katie.
There were certainly better restaurants
in Heidelberg than the one belonging to
Joseph Ruder, but there was something
restful in the old place. If you wanted to
go into the garden, you first had to find
your way through the poorly built house,
and the ceiling was so low that the tall
Prussian noblemen, who were members of
the Saxo-Borrussia, had to be carefiJ not
to bump their heads.
But, when the garden was reached, every-
thing was beautiful. You sat under the
old lime trees, right on the bank of the
Neckar. Opposite you was Heidelberg,
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
with the castle. You drank Joseph Ruder's
good, unadulterated wine and you enjoyed
life.
You were also pleased with the sweetest
little waitress, who served you the wine.
It often happens that restaurants change
their character, from time to time, and
Ruder's was no exception. It had originally
been an ordinary sailor's place. Then old
ladies of good families, with their young
daughters, discovered the garden to be a
quiet retreat, where, far from the madden-
ing crowd, they could take their afternoon
coffee, until, one day, the students found
out the place and made an end of this
idyll.
They came in the afternoon and stayed
until late at night. Every day, they made
the same old racket and forced their big
Danes to jump into the Neckar.
drank more in a month than Joseph
formerly sold in years; and in three
they had smoked the poor old ladies
of the place, so that they never came
Frau Ruder and Frau Dorffel, as weU ,
Fran Ruder's two sisters— all elderly ladiejB
said, very often, that it had been quiewr"'
69
byGooQie
r
OLD HEIDELBERG
and more comfortable formerly, even if
they had not made the money they were
making now. But all four were convinced
of one thing, and that was, that this change
had brought one disadvantage, the change
in Katie's conduct.
When she was seventeen, she had always
served the old ladies very quietly and nicely
with their coflfee; she had even then been
a pretty headstrong girl, but it was not so
difficult to bring her to her senses. But
from the day the students came, nothing
could be done with the girl. The old women
often talked to her and told her not to be
such a madcap and to have more respect for
herself. She would patiently do some knit-
ting in the kitchen, and let them talk, talk,
talk. A few times, she had tried to con-
tradict them and to tell them that she did
nothing wrong, and that, when serving the
young men with wine, she could not act like
a stupid country girl; but the four women
had so much to say that, finally, she never
said a word in answer. She would sit
quietly and patiently, like one who is shut
in by a storm and who waits for the sun
to come out.
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
But, when the students came and called :
"Katie! Come here, Katie!" she became
totally changed. The knitting would be
thrown on the table and, in the next mo-
ment, she would run so quickly through
the house that her short skirts, flying
about her, would reveal her neat little
ankles.
"Beer, Katie!"
"I am coming. How many? Five, six,
seven, how many are you? Eight! Sit
down there, near the river, and I will set
the table."
And the greater the crowd in the gar-
den, the faster she ran. In both hands she
carried the large steins, and when, from
everywhere, they shouted:
"Katie, bill of fare!"
"Beer, Katie!"
"Come here, Katie!"
She would laugh and show her white
teeth between her red lips :
"I am coming! Don't make such a
fuss!"
She hurried here and there, and every-
where could be seen her white apron and
her bare, brown arms, graceful as those of
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
a small child. She never lost her head,
never forgot anything, not even a spoon
or a fork. She was always to be relied on.
In her leather bag, which hung from her
waist and which, during the night, she
put under her pillow, she carried a lot of
money, out of which she took handsftd of
small coins. She could make change very
quickly and it took but a moment for the
right sum to be put safely away in the
pocketbook.
" Katie, do you never make a mistake in
counting?" one of the students asked her.
"Certainly, but that does not matter.
You are honest fellows, you return it."
"Prosit, Katie, to your health ! Come
and have a mouthful!"
"Thank you." She passed the back of
her hand across her rosy lips and took a
good drink out of the student's glass.
Sometimes, one of the students would
try to put his arm round her waist, but
she always eluded them.
The four women in the kitchen saw all
these little scenes with a mixture of sorrow
and disapprobation, mingling the envy of
old age with its moral severity. Was it
72
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
necessary for them to look at such scenes
day after day? They might engage another
waitress, but that was easier said than
done. There are waitresses who are, first,
not so industrious; second, not so respect-
able; third, not so quick; fourth, not so
honest; and fifth— well, this fifth!— not so
pretty. But, was Katie really so pretty?
Very often the four asked themselves this,
and shook their gray heads. "No, she was
not!" Her complexion was too brown —
much too brown, her arms too thin, the
whole figure without proper form. All four
had been prettier in their youth.
But the students found Katie charming;
so charming, indeed, that on Katie's birth-
day, they sent mountains of flowers, and,
without doubt, they came more on account
of her than because of Ruder's wines or
Frau Ruder's roast veal.
Several times the four old women thought
it really was their duty to write to the dis-
tant Austrian cousin Franzl and tell him
how well his fiancee was enjoying herself,
but, then, most likely this cousin Franzl
would come to Heidelberg and take Katie
away with him to Vienna.
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
And, finally, the four quieted their con-
sciences with the thought that, if Katie
was related to them, she was so only very
distantly. It was sad to see her conduct
herself so heedlessly, but what could they
do? Nothing. Business was remarkably
good, and this was really the principal
thing.
On the third day of May, at four in
the afternoon, a Korps concert was held in
Ruder's garden. The Korps' servants, whose
senior was Herr Kellermann, had arrived by
three, to arrange the various tables. In the
center was the table of the "Vandalia," as
the presiding Korps ; on the right, near the
Neckar, the "Saxonians"; next to them
" Rhenania" ; next to them "Saxo-Borussia" ;
then, next to the bowling alley, the "Suev-
ians"; and opposite, the " Westphalians."
Katie was helping, while Herr Ruder
went round, looking approvingly at every-
thing, and giving himself the air of being
the soul of the whole affair. He drank
small glasses of gin with the Korps' ser-
vants and presented them with fimny look-
ing cigars, of a brand which he smoked
from six in the morning until twelve at
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
night. If it had been possible to make
a pole of the cigars which Herr Ruder
smoked during a year, this pole would have
been nearly a mile long and, standing up-
right, it would have been taller than the
highest mountains of the Oden Forest.
The musicians appeared at half past
three and received their barrel of beer;
then the four women, the six Korps ser-
vants, the five musicians, and Katie, hung
Japanese lanterns all round the garden.
Herr Ruder once more looked the place
over. Katie put on a new apron, and,
when everything was ready for the recep-
tion the music struck up, and, punctually
at four, "Vandalia" — ^with eight "fellows"
and twelve "foxes" — entered the garden.
"Hallo, Katie!"
"How do you do?"
She was surrounded by twenty red-caps,
who all shook hands with her and talked
to her at the same time. She was stand-
ing in the midst if them, like a Httle queen,
while Herr Ruder and the four aunts kept
respectfully in the background and the
musicians played "Was kommt dort von
der Hah?"
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
She looked with great compassion at a
short young fellow, whose cheeks were
covered with black bandages :
"Poor boy, have they given you a deep
cut? But you are not a bit clever."
She took his big head in her hands,
much to his deUght, and looked at the
"How stupid you are!"
But " Yandalia" had Katie with them for
only a httle while, for again the music
struck up, and " Saxo-Borussia" appeared,
taking it as their right, also, to shake
Katie's hands. "Suevia" followed, and
then "Rhenania," and "Westphalia." The
musicians scarcely had time to drink, be-
cause they had to salute each new Korps
entering the garden; large and small dogs
ran about barking, the whole garden was
full of red, blue, green and yellow caps,
and everywhere was the laughing face of
the young girl, who was stiU shaking
hands, who had to speak to everyone,
knew everyone, and called each by name.
It was a rare sight to see this young
girl honored by the attention of a hundred
young students and talking with them as
76
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
if they were old friends. A sunny innocence
smiled out of her bright eyes, and she
took their homage as something entirely
natural.
Suddenly, in all this confusion, a power-
ful voice called out abruptly:
"Come her, Katie!"
It was the tall Wedell of the Saxo-Boms-
sia who spoke. And when, surprised at
this harsh call, she did not go, but, instead,
looked obstinate and angry, he, with his
long legs, climbed over two chairs, right
up to her ;
" Katie, Saxo-Borussia bestows this upon
you, this sash, her colors. Cai
ably, Katie, don't disgrace yoi
of us, Saxo-Borussia or Heidel
He took the four-colored si
his Korps and put it round t
and waist of the abashed girl,
And while the other Kor]
and a little annoyed at this
formance were looking on, th<
sians triumphantly rattled th«
the table, calhng: "Bravo!"
"To your health, Katie!"
"Prosit, Katie!"
77
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
At this critical moment, when "Saio-
Borussia" had again done something unus-
ual and extraordinary, the only one to
keep his head was Grimm of "Vandalia."
"Katie I"
"What is it?"
"'Vandalia,' also, bestows her colors
upon you." He then took oflf the red-gold-
red sash that he wore over his waistcoat
and tied it round the girl's shoulders.
"Vandalia" was beside itself with de-
Ught.
"Bravo!"
"Katie, VandaJiae!"
" Katie, to your health ! A wholeglass ! "
"A whole glass!"
The turmoil and shouting were so great
that no one could hear the words of the
"Suevian" in charge, who quickly followed
the example of the others and put his
yellow ribbon round Katie's shoulders.
It was now "Suevia's" turn to join in
the shouting of "Katie!" and the uproar
became deafening as each excited fellow
raised his voice in the tumult.
" Rhenania" followed, then "Westphalia"
— ^willingly or not — and now the girl, her
78
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
cheeks glowing with pleasure, stood among
the laughing students, five silk ribbons
over her young bosom, her small bouquet
of violets quite covered with them. Red,
blue, gold, green, white, yellow, black — all
the colors of the rainbow in soft silk, glit-
tered on her white waist. She looked some-
what confiisedly, but laughingly around
her, and then down at her new ribbons,
rising and faUing on her breast.
Then— without thinking, as usual— she
took a glass of beer and, lifting it high :
"You are all dears I Prosittoallof you !"
And, with a deep draught, she emptied
the glass.
Suddenly, she felt herself lifted up. It
was Fink, of " Vandalia," who was standing
near her and who had clasped her around
the knees and lifted her up like a feather :
"Long live Katie!"
"Katie! ! Hurrah for Katie! !"
She still held the empty beer glass in
her hand, she wanted to say something,
perhaps scold them, but she saw below
her a hundred colored caps, a hundred
laughing faces, a hundred glasses lifted up
to her; then she laughed— laughed
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
The baud struck up!
Everybody grew silent at once.
During this confusion, the last of the
Korps, "Saxonia," appeared at the garden
entrance. "Saxonia" was late and would
have to pay a fine. The members of "Sax-
onia" solemnly and slowly, raised their
caps, and, as solemnly and slowly, the
other five Korps returned the salute.
For a moment, Katie was forgotten.
The curious and even envious eyes of
all were turned towards a striking young
fellow, who was gracefully lifting his dark
blue cap, as he marched in beside Herr
Bilz, the first in charge of "Saxonia."
"That is he!"
"There, the first one!"
"Which one? The one next to Bilz?"
"Yes, that is he."
So this was the hereditary Prince ! The
hereditary Prince of Karlburg ! The finest
"fox" that "Saxonia" had ever caught!
A real hereditary Prince !
"Saxonia" had certainly had tremendous
luck in making this catch, an unheard of
luck, a catch without parallel.
As a rule they were not envious, cer-
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
tainly not, "suum cuique;" but His High-
ness would have looked just as well with a
Saxo-Prussian cap, or in the red cap of
"YandaUa," or in the "Rhenania" colors.
He bowed to right and left, thinking
that all the salutes, which were meant for
his Korps, were intended for him personally.
He certainly was embarrassed and not able,
as yet, to view the whole state of affairs
with the eyes of an ordinary mortal.
There
By God, that was pretty cheeky of
Katie !
All craned their necks to see her. She
had taken both the Prince's hands in hers.
But, of course, she knew him, he lived with
Frau Dorffel.
And the Prince grew quite red in the
face, while his new friends, surprised, as
were all the others, stood in a circle round
him and the girl.
"Excuse me, Katie," said Herr Bilz, and
tried weakly to pull her back; but she
never noticed him.
"Oh, this is beautifiil!" she said, with
sparkling eyes, "it is so good of you to
come here, and with you all." She looked
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
round the circle from Herr Bilz to little
Coimt Munster, then at Conrad Grabenitz
and all the others. "So he belongs to you,
now! That is beautiful!"
Karl Heinrich had a feeling that all his
new Korps brothers, who were still half
strangers to him, were watching him with
great surprise; that the Doctor, who was
standing behind him, was dumbfounded;
that all— that he— that she— but her two
little warm hands held him fast, and,
through them her boundless youth and joy
flowed out to him and he forgot every-
thing.
He did not hear the music which was
playing in his honor, "Heil dir im Sieger-
kranz;" he did not see the faces around
him — he only saw two dark eyes, which,
happy as those of a child, and passionate
as those of a woman, looked searchingly
into his.
Then he sat down at the table, which
was really no table at all, but a rough
pine board. Before him was a large glass
of beer, and he thought, Hke Katie: "It
is beautiful!"
He talked with the others, he drank, he
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
sang a song out of a studeits' singing-
book, whicli the others knew by heart, he
laughed, he answered whenever spoken to—
but he did all this as if in a dream.
One after another of his Korps brothers
came to him to drink to good fellowship
and to call him " Du," — it wasall so strange.
The music was wretched, and, at first, it
seemed to him absolutely inharmonious, but
after a little while, the songs sounded soft
and sweet, Hke dear melodies coming from
afar, which he had heard somewhere before,
but had long forgotten. Occasionally, he
looked at the Doctor, who sat farther down
at the table and who drank great quan-
tities of beer and seemed to enjoy himself
immensely. And now and then, Katie
passed him or he saw her gomg m and/T ^
out among the tables, but he always founrf^ \ ^
her eyes. \ \
It was growing dark, the castle on th&^
mountain disappeared in the shadows o^ J
the night. The lights in the houses /of /
Heidelberg, on the other side of the NecE^r/
began to appear one by one, and Herw''''^
Ruder and the Korps servants lighted theV
Japanese lanterns which hung above the
83 ^
OLD HEIDELBERG
tables, swinging in the trees and along the
river wall, so that their colors, the colors
of the caps, and the green of the bushes,
made up a beautiful sparkling symphony
of color.
Karl Bilz, with his long, drooping mous-
tache, sat next to Karl Heinrich. He was
the best fighter of " Saxonia," but he looked
among the less refined of his Korps brethren,
Uke a disguised girl. Finally he said, in
his quiet voice, to the Prince !
'* Let us go for a little walk, if you care
to."
"Yes, certainly."
"One grows so tired sitting still such
a long time."
They went through the long rows of
tables and the low, badly-lighted hall, out
to the main road. Boys and girls were
standing outside the hedge, listening to the
music. A little distance from the house,
it was very quiet. Now and then, a pair
of lovers passed them in the dark. The
moon had not yet risen, the road lay in
the shadow of the summer night, and, as
they walked further away, the music grew
very soft and low. They were playing
84
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
"Three Students Went Across the Rhine."
To the right of them, in the meadows,
crickets chirped and a few frogs croaked.
"Do you like it in Heidelberg?"
It was only a conventional question, to
break the silence, but, in his suppressed
happiness, it came as a positive relief to
the Prince.
"Du?"
The Prince took the other's hands in
his, with a grip like a vise, as one who is
about to open his heart for the first time
in his life.
The student was moved. He certainly
did not understand all that was meant
by this pressure of his hands — ^the great
longing of a human being, who, at last,
deUvered, pours forth the passion of his
whole life — but he was pleased and touched.
The Prince wanted him for a friend !
And then they returned to their places
among the others and to their pine table.
If possible, they were even merrier than
before. There were friendly young faces
all around the Prince, looking at him,
laughing and happy. Everybody drank
to him :
8S
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"Karl Heinrich, to your health!"
"Karl Heinrich, Prosit, Prosit!"
And he nodded, laughed, and clicked
glasses with them.
"Karl Heinrich, will you come with us
to-morrow to the fencing hall?"
"Yes, indeed!"
"Roux will give you lessons."
"Who is that?"
"The fencing master."
"Very well."
"Will you attend the lectures?"
"Yes, institutions and law."
" Go on, that's nonsense."
And they all explained to him, with
unanimous lightness, that nobody in Heidel-
berg goes to college, at least, not in May,
and certainly not at all during the first
term.
He smiled and seemed to listen atten-
tively to all these explanations, in which
all took part, but he felt the grip of an
iron force which would destroy everything,
a cold voice saying : " I want you to under-
stand that this year at the University must
be spent in serious scientific studies and not
in seeking for pleasure."
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Timidly he looked at the Doctor, who
was sent here to see the Prince's will car-
ried out, but this Doctor stood in front
of an enormous bowl, in each hand he held
a wine bottle, from which he was pouring
wine.
"No lemon is needed," Karl Heinrich
heard him say, excitedly; and, as somebody
nearby seemed to contradict him, he struck
the table with one of the bottles, and trem-
blir^g with excitement, he cried :
"1 hav* made a thousand wine cups in
KarlburgI Hang it all, I certainly ought
to know if lemon is wanted or not!"
This very same evening Herr Lutz was
sitting in his room, waiting for His High-
ness to come home.
"Most hkely I shall not return before
eleven," His Highness had told him, "if you
like, you can go out and take a glass of
beer."
Herr Lutz had done so, only he had
taken several pints of claret, as beer did not
agree with him. The wine was good, so
Herr Lutz's spirits had risen and he was
more reconciled than he had been for days.
"It isn't wise to go too far," he thought,
87
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
"better to stay for ayearin this confounded
TJniTersity town, than to quarrel with His
Highness. It may be dangerous, and one
can never be sure."
At half past ten, like all good citizens,
he returned home; then he lighted all the
lamps, put everything in order in His High-
ness' bedroom and looked out of the win-
dow. He was yawning a little, but was not
yet tired.
However, His Highness might come home
now.
Eleven o'clock !
The calling of valet to kings and princes
is a singular and a serious business. Lutz
knew many of his colleagues, who had been
presented to him while traveling at foreign
Courts : Rosanoff, KroU, Bietingsfeld, men
in whose hands the fate of Europe had
sometimes rested. What a man was Rosan-
off! He looked like a Russian Councillor of
State and wore the Order of the Medshidge.
Or Bamhuth, first valet to His Royal
Highness the Duke of Coburg ! He was a
"bon homme," amiable, good to his subordi-
nates and most unrestrained in his behavior
when in the presence of the really great.
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
or Legrand, who was thought to be worth
half a million, or Schafier, whose luck with
women — even with those in the highest
circles — had become proverbial.
Midnight
In Karlburg, he went to bed at eleven
o'clock, in a warm, comfortable room. Be-
fore turning out the light, he drank a glass
of old claret, and then lay down, tired
but contented, under a soft, silk cover. A
well-regulated life keeps a man healthy;
early to bed is a golden rule. But, in
this God-forsaken place, ever3rthing was
different.
One o'clock
Herr Lutz got up. He had been dozing
for a while in an easy chair, at the window.
Now his right arm, which had been sup-
porting his head on the hard windowsill,
was hurting him. What the does this
mean ! One o'clock and not home yet !
"Coming home at eleven" should mean
"Being home at eleven!" A cool wind
came through the open window into the
room, so that Herr Lutz coughed. He
certainly had caught cold while dozing.
He walked restlessly up and down the
89
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
room, exhausted and full of rage — until the
clock struck two.
Suddenly he grew frightened — something
must have happened ! The Prince had been
killed!
It was a ridiculous idea, which he soon
forced out of his mind, but still his rest-
lessness increased until he could remain
alone no longer. He took one of the old-
fashioned candlesticks and went down
through the corridor. "I shall call Frau
Dorffel," he thought, " she must get up and
keep me company." At first, he knocked
timidly, then, gradually gaining courage, he
finally poimded with bis fist, but no one
answered. He pushed the door, which
opened readily, and looked into the close-
smelling room. Nobody there ! The bed
empty ! And the bed of the young girl
also empty! And this at half past two
in the morning!
Something, which turned out to be only
the cat, moved in the comer, but this slight
noise terrified Herr Lutz to such an extent
that he grew deathly pale. He closed the
door quickly and stood outside in the broad
corridor, with its dim comers and fantastic
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
shadows. There was no one in the house!
He was all alone!
When the clock struck four, Herr Lutz
was a sick man. He sat there, pale as
death, a blank expression on his face, his
thin lips trembhng, his brain empty. He
could think of nothing that he had not
already thought of during this night, — he
only knew that a man in his position had
never been so shamefully treated before.
He watched the first grey shadows of the
coming dawn on the black roof of the
church; then slowly other buildings came
into view, as the light grew stronger, and
finally the sun shone forth in all his glory.
Outside, the sparrows chirped. It was
morning !
"Lutz! Hallo, Lutz!"
He got up; somebody had shakei
shoulder. He had slept, and was rubBi
his eyes, but he had not yet come to
senses.
"That's right, Lutz," say_the Prince,
"I am glad to see that yow
is a little bit late, or, rati
And, turning to the men who^
room, he said: "This is Lutz,
91
Cc>i>i^lc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Yalet, whom I am glad to introduce to.
you."
Lutz, during his long life at Court, had
lost the faculty of being surprised at any-
thing, but, for a few moments, with his
overtired, leaden eyes, he could not make
out things. On the chairs, the sofa, the
table, the piano, even on the windowsill,
men were sitting everywhere, fellows with
student's caps and silk ribbons. Someone
was playing on the piano a song from
"MadameAngot" — ^itwas the Doctor. Lutz
later discovered three big dogs, that ran
round him, snuffing at him, and, in the
midst of this lot of scoundrels, stood the
young girl, saying: "How many cups of
coffee? Seventeen? Just count."
Karl Heinrich counted: "That's right,
seventeen. Please, Lutz, go along and help
in the kitchen and hurry things up a bit."
And Lutz went.
His strength was broken, his powers of
resistance gone. "That's right, Lutz, I am
glad to see that you have slept." This
sentence of the Prince continually sounded
in his ears. It seemed to intimate that
he had had his usual good night's rest,
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
while, in reality, he had not slept ten
minutes.
" Come on, just help a bit, give me those
blue cups. Yes, those!"
He did it.
They wanted brandy, — he fetched brandy.
They wanted cigars, — he brought cigars.
He even called the big Danes into the
kitchen and satisfied their wants. One of
them growled angrily at him, but Herr
Lutz thought humbly: "Kill me, if you
want to, it does not matter!"
At six o'clock, Herr Lutz was again
alone. Prince, Doctor, students and dogs
had stampeded down the stairs, and the
forsaken rooms, after this one hour, looked
Uke a battlefield. Everywhere ashes, cigar
ends, brandy bottles, cups, glasses, in great
disorder. A chair was broken, and the air
was so full of tobacco smoke that it made
Lutz sick.
"We are going to the castle," Karl Hein-
rich had said to him. "I shall be home at
noon and shall then try to get a few hours
rest."
This Prince was becoming a "rou^"—
Herr Lutz was the valet of a "rou^."
9S
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Woidd this go on now, day after day?
And Herr Lutz shook his fist in a help-
less fury at the sunny city :
"Heidelberg!"
byGOOQJC
seriousness of the situation.
What if they should hear of this in Karl-
burg!
And if they made further inquiries and
found out something ! That Karl Heinrich
never attended the lectures ! That at Whit-
suntide, he had taken a trip to Milan and
had run up quite a number of debts ! But,
worst of all, that love affair with the wait-
ress, which the very sparrows in Heidelberg
twittered from the house tops!
But this fight was the crowning feature
of it all !
They hadn't told him anything about it,
it had happened behind his back. It was a
terrible scandal !
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Like a madman, he entered Karl Hein-
rich's room:
" Your Highness ! "
"Doctor!"
"I am sick of all this I"
"Of what?"
"Of everything. I shall resign. I am
going to write to Karlburg to-day. It is
all my fault, I know, but I am not going to
stand by and see it go on."
"But, Doctor "
"I wish we had never come here! How
could a man like me, thirty-five years of
age, settled in life, forget duty and order!
I had come here for a rest and to live tem-
perately, and, instead of doing so, I have
knocked about at all hours and have ruined
myself Look at me ! A wreck, a complete
ruin!"
He reaUy did not look well, and Karl
Heinrich felt great pity for him.
"You are right, my dear Doctor, this
can't go on. You must take care of your-
self You must walk a great deal and sleep
less. Doctor, you must live by the clock."
But the Doctor couldn't bear to have
anyone assent to his own self-accusations :
96
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"I am not speaking of myself. Your
Highness, but rather of you. Your present
mode of Ufe cannot go on. I shall resign,
that's settled. A sick man Hke myself, who
hasn't another five years to live, not even
three, two, one, cannot direct your educa-
tion any longer, and certainly not here iii
Heidelberg."
Suddenly his excitement went to the
other extreme: "Oh, Karl Heinz, I wish
we had never come here!"
That afternoon and the following night
he nursed the Prince, and, after he had
drunk a few bottles of wine he was again
in the best of humor.
"That's the worst of it," he said, "that
nothing but alcohol can keep one in good
humor." But he spoke very cheerfully.
Several times again he attempted to
arouse Karl Heinrich's conscience, but he
fared like the sorcerer's apprentice who
conjured up ghosts and then couldn't get
rid of them.
It was remarkable how the Prince had
changed during the past few months, evenJn
his appearance. His way of carrying himself
had grown firmer and more vigorous, his
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
face looked more energetic and the scars
on liis cheek gave him a martial air. With
the positive exception of the tall Wedell of
the Saxo-Prussians, there was no gayer
student in all Heidelberg, but even in Karl
Heinrich's big and small absurdities, his
drinking bouts and his fights, there was
something of the "Grand Seigneur." He
always seemed, even when very drunk,
to tower head and shoulders above the
others, and to look down upon all crazy
actions.
In his method of education, the Doctor
went from bad to worse. He was no longer
the guardian, but now Karl Heinrich began
to master him. Punctually at nine o'clock
the Doctor had to get up ; at the stroke of
twelve he had to retire. For two hours
daily he was forced to take a walk, but
this energetic mode of life ought to have
been prescribed and followed many months,
perhaps even years, before. "Force me to
do it, Karl Heinrich," he would say, "com-
pel me!" but much oftener he became cross
when he was forced. "The dickens, let me
Hve these last few years as I want to !
No, I am not going for a walk, I am tired.
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
I don't want to. Katie, give me a pint of
claret!"
But the Prince stood to his guns: "No
nonsense, Doctor ; come along ! We will go
together to the Koenigstuhl, allons!"
Sooner than anyone had thought, the
poor Doctor was relieved of these and other
hardships. For, one day, Karl Heinrich had
Professor von Michaelis examine the Doctor,
and he was sent to a private hospital.
There he was installed in a very pretty
sickroom, with a fine balcony, furnished
with a smart smoking-table, a most com-
fortable lounge and everything that could
add to his comfort. Here he spent day
after day, looking out at the sunshine, and
was continually visited by Karl Heinz and
his Korps brothers. Here he drank, smoked,
played cards and fo^nd his life as easy and /
agreeable as possible. yV
"I shall get well again, I feel if^ha/
often said. The professor, smiling io\a
superior way, had given him a fewinst™/-
tions: "No beer, no potatoes," and.pas tlm—
Doctor did not care much for eitmr^btit\(
preferred a good glass of wine, he folLMtMlu
the professor's advice closely, i^i^i^^^^^ y^ \
99 ... ■■:%)
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
He might have drunk beer or eaten
potatoes for all that, but sick people to
wh«m nothing is forbidden, lose hope.
For weeks Karl Heinrich was uneasy.
The first grey shadow had come over the
sunny gladness of Heidelberg. He did not
know that his days in the gay town were
just as much numbered as those of the
Doctor, although in a different sense. And,
while the Doctor lived through this time in
such good humor and tranquility of mind
that even the Professor was astonished, the
Prince was sad and absorbed. For whole
days he would sit with the Doctor on the
balcony, as if it was his sacred duty to
keep him company continually, until, one
day, the Doctor lost patience.
"Why do you sit here all day long and
act as if I were dangerously ill? Confound
you, but things have not yet gone as far as
that. Go and run about, enjoy yourself,
but don't sit here and make long faces, as
if I were already dying!"
The Prince was so surprised he could not
answer, but the Doctor gave him no time :
"My dear Karl Heinz, you are wasting
the best that any man can have, and that
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
is, the time of youth. You seem to think
that you will stay here forever in Heidelberg
with your friend, and with pretty Uttle
Katie. But it won't be long before the year
is over. Every hour not properly employed
is lost, and it never comes back again — ^it
is 'temps perdu.' It makes no difference
whether you are a Prince or only an ordi-
nary human being. Please pour me a
glass of wine, — the bottle is over there in the
comer. I, also, was young once, and I kept
thinking : ' There is still time, oh ! yes, there
is still time,' but it is too late at last. Go
and enjoy yourself, do not come at all to-
morrow. Come the day after to-morrow
and then only for one hour. Please give
me that box of cigars. Thanks. It is so
beautiful to lie out here. Look at that nice
little girl over there, on the balcony ; what
a little darling she is, and how she looks at
us! Confound it, if I were only young
once more!"
During the following week, "Saxonia"
made a trip through the Black Forest.
Every day the Doctor received postal cards,
on which he was told how many glasses of
beer they had drunk to his special health.
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
in Gemsbach, Baden, Freiberg, on the
Feldberg and every village where beer was
to be had. If, by such drink oflFerings,
health could actually have been restored,
the poor Doctor, in this short time, ought
to have grown quite well again.
With a sun-burned face and in excellent
spirits, Karl Heinrich returned to Heidel-
berg. He went first to see Katie, who, with
all her passionate love, received him joy-
fully. Then he went to the hospital. The
joy of seeing the Prince again brought
the color once more to the Doctor's thin
cheeks — he welcomed him with a radiant
face:
"That's right, Karl Heinz! Run around
in the world with the others ! Don't stay
in one room and look solemn. Ring the
bell, we will drink a bottle of Steinwein.
How is Katie? Isn't she very happy to-
day? Was she at the station? No? And
why not? What a darling she is ! Now,
come along and tell me of your travels.
Have you been in Strassburg? My boy,
you look splendid, as brown as an Indian.- ^
I am all right, I really feel fine. This rest
here does me good. Have you been in Wild-
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
bad? What a charming place it is. Isn't
the whole Black Forest beautiful ! Pour
the wine, Karl Heinz — to' your health!"
Perhaps the Doctor was really better and
the Professor and his assistants had made
a mistake. At any rate, he was never in
better spirits than during these days of his
illness, and so Karl Heinrich found his joy-
ousness coming back to him.
On one of the last days of July he gave
a great festiTal at Ruder's, to his Korps.
Everything was done in first-class style and,
late in the evening, the castle was illumi-
nated so that the whole of Heidelberg, in-
cluding all strangers and foreigners, assem-
bled at the river to have a look at this
magnificent sight. The Doctor could only
admire the wonderful picture fi-om his lonely
balcony, while Karl Heinrich, the hero of
the day, had voluntarily left the crowd. He
sat beside Katie in Ruder's old boat, which
Herr Kellermann was rowing against the
tide. Nobody in Heidelberg was better
fitted to accompany a pair lovers on such
a nocturnal boat trip than Herr Keller-
mann. He never heard or saw anything, he
continually fussed with the obstinate oars,
103
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
wHich made him angry and required all
his attention. He had the habit of talking
quietly to himself, a continuous murmur,
which was strangely composed of delight,
dissatisfaction, reminiscences and instan-
taneous fancies, sense and nonsense: "Stu-
pid nonsense— oars— oh ! yes !— water— late
— good — ^to-morrow momJng — send for it —
get it — d d — all shoes — " and so on.
When the old castle, in its nightly soh-
tude, began to be illuminated, when red
lights radiated from window to window of
the old ruin, and Karl Heinrich thrilled by
this wonderful sight, stood up in the shak-
ing boat, Herr Kellermann never even no-
ticed it. What had he to do with castles
and fireworks ! In the last thirty years, he
had seen this dozens of times,— he had
something else to do besides looking at such
nonsense.
Slowly the flames died out until only a
few windows of the castle were still Ughted
up. Finally, these also grew dark, and the
faint reflection on the Neckar disappeared.
The boat drifled along in the quiet of the
night, Karl Heinrich and Katie sat side by
side, and only the mutterings of Herr Keller-
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OLD HEIDELBERG
mann and the quiet dipping of the oars
broke the stiUness.
Some time passed, and finally Katie grew
restless :
"We must go home."
And, in fact, it was past midnight.
" Kellermann, we must turn back, let the
boat drift."
"Hm!"
"Will you smoke a cigar, Kellermann?"
"Hm!"
For a few seconds, the match lighted up
the old, wrinkled face.
The Prince had known the old man now
for several months, but in these few mo-
ments, it seemed to him as if he had seen
those weary features for the first time.
"How old are you, Kellerman?"
For a few moments, Kellermann did not
answer, for this question was so new £uid
singular that it confused him.
"Sixty-five."
Sixty-five ! And every night on the go —
the whole day busy, always a bit slow but
always willing, a poor devil who had to
Usten to twenty masters and who could not
suit one of them. Not a jolly sort of a
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
fellow, such as smts the students' Ufe; not
a clown, continually to be laughed at —
only a tired human being, who, term after
term, had to serve new masters.
"Have you a family, Kellermann?"
The old man looked surprised, almost
distrustful. Never had he been asked that—
at least, never in such a tone — by one of the
students. His wife was sometimes seen, as
she did the students' laundry.
But Karl Heinrich kept on questioning,
while Katie, almost invisible to Herr Keller-
mann, and resting her head on her darling's
shoulder, helped him :
"Do answer, Kellermann, speak up."
And both, in their tender and happy
mood, doubly susceptible to the suflFerings
of others, asked questions alternately, with
so much eagerness and sympathy, that, at
last, the sad story of Kellermann's life was
brought out.
For the first time in his life, the Prince
understood the struggle for existence of a
fellow being.
" Kellermann ! *'
"Yes, sir!"
"Kellermann, when I have left here, if
io6
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
you should have bad luck, would you write
me?"
The old man did not answer, but Katie
put her arms round Karl Heinrich's neck
and whispered something in his ear,— per-
haps she thanked him.
"You understand a lot about wine, Kel-
lermann" — Karl Heinrich smiled — "when I
am the reigning Prince, later on, come to
me. You shall be my head cellarman.
That fits your name, too, doesn't it?"
A callous hand reached out of the dark-
ness, taking Katie's hand by mistake, so
that she screamed with fear, but which then
groped farther and found that of the Prince,
which it pressed hard.
Then the boat drifted again in deep
silence.
Herr Kellermann's cigar glowed throi
the darkness and Karl Heinrich and
sat quietly, close to each other,
moved, and happier than ever before.
no longer kissed her, they only held
other closely, and Katie hummed, as in
dream, an old Bohemian song which,
child, she had learned on the distant Don:
During the evening three telegrams
107
OLD HEIDELBERG
arriTed for His- Highness, and as they all
came from Karlburg, they set Herr Lutz to
thinking and caused him, at last, to go
himself to Ruder's hostelry. .He knew as
little about this place as about all the other
" Kneipen" which His Highness frequented,
and he was, therefore, not surprised when
Ruder told him that His Highness was not
there at present, but that, most likely, he
would soon return. Between twelve atnoon
and three the next morning His Highness
could not be found, but Herr Lutz had
grown accustomed to that. One of the first
principles of Court life is that meals, rides,
travels and everything else be so fixed by
rule, to the minute and second, that, at any
given time, others knew just what each
member of the royal family was doing, — but
His Highness was an exception, his mode of
life was directly opposed to these rules.
Not that Herr Lutz became angry about it,
— oh ! no ! He had stopped that long ago.
The only thing that lay on his mind was
that he — Lutz — ^felt that he himself had
slowly changed. He didn't take so much
pains with his linen, nor was his exterior
appearance as formerly, and the glistening
1 08
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
white of his ties had dimmed. Nobody
asked for him, nobody troubled about him.
His activity was gone — so why trouble?
Lutz had even slowly lost that fine sense
of dignity which his position and education
had given him. It often happened that,
nearly dead from "ennui," he sat for hours
with the old women in the kitchen and
drank coffee. He was degenerating, he was
really only a servant now, he had lost his
own self-respect. Once, in order to pass the
time, he began a flirtation with a servant
girl in the neighborhood, but she showed so
plainly that she wanted to become Lutz's
wife that he dropped this liaison.
About half past ten Herr Lutz, with his
three telegrams, arrived at Ruder's. Mid-
night passed, and still His Highness did not
appear.
Then, quite suddenly, Herr Lutz saw his
master. His Highness stood in the midst of
all the confusion among the students. In
his right hand he had a beer glass, in his
left a rapier, his blue cap was perched on
the back of his head and he seemed to be
making a speech. Directly afterwards, there
was a great uproar, they struck the tables
109
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
with their glasses so that it sounded like
thunder, and Karl Heinrich stood laughing
in their midst, looking with sparkling eyes
to right and left.
Gravely and solemnly, Herr Lutz went
through the rows of students and stopped
behind the Prince.
"Your Highness "
"SUentium! we shall now sing: Yon all
den Madchen so bUtz und so blank—"
The music struck up and Herr Lutz
bowed for the second time :
"Your Highness "
But the Prince did not see him, nobody
saw him. Waiters carrying glasses of beer
ran about between the tables, passing
students unintentionally pushed Herr Lutz
roughly from one side to the other, then
they all began singing:
"Yon all den MEdchen so blitz und so
blank
Gefaellt mir am besten die Lore "
Angry and half desperate, Herr Lutz
bowed behind Karl Heinrich for the third
time:
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"Your Highness "
"Sie ist mein Gedanke bei Tag und bei
Nacht
Und wohnet im Winkel am Thore "
Hen* Lutz, in his black suit, his face
white with rage, stood among that jolly,
half-drunken set, looking Hke a figure of
Retribution, a bearer of bad news, who
pauses a moment before deUvering his mes-
sage of ill-omen.
Karl Bilz, who sat next the Prince, at
last saw him.
"There is someone there behind you,
Karl Heinz."
"Where?— Lutz!"
"Your Highness "
"What's the matter?"
"Urgent telegrams from Karlburg have
arrived for Your Highness."
The Prince grew pale.
And, while the second verse of the"Lore"
song sounded through the garden, he opened
the telegrams and read :
"I beg to announce to Your Highness'
that His Serene Highness is seriously ill and
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
wishes Your Highness, in the course of the
next few days, to come to Karlburg for a
short stay."
This message, as well as the two others,
was signed by the Lord Chamberlain. The
second gave a short account of the illness,
while the third begged His Highness not to
look upon the illness as being of a danger-
ous nature as yet.
He turned :
"It's all right, Lutz. Go now! I shall
be home in an hour. Pack the trunks; we
shall leave here to-morrow evening."
Very few had been aware of this interrup-
tion, and no one seemed to notice that a
quarter of an hour afterwards, Karl Hein-
rich's chair was vacant.
As the Prince was leaving the garden, he
looked back just once.
What if that illness should Unger and
keep him chained to Karlburg for weeks, or,
perhaps, months?
Suppose — and it was possible— suppose
he could never return to Heidelberg!
But he tried to brace up, and was angry
with himself for his weakness. He had al-
ways been inclined to exaggerate his feel-
by GooqIc
OLD HEIDELBERG
ings, — a weak, womanly habit, attributable
only to people who have nfever had any
serious struggles in life, — and, angry with
himself, he even forgot to say Good-night to
Katie.
byGooqlc
When Karl I
the hospital to s
he foiuid him Ijr
cony. There was usually a fine view of the
castle and the Konigstuhl from this point,
but to-day everything was obscured by a
fine rain. Still, this was refi-eshing after
the close heat of the last few days.
The Doctor was lying, weak and tired,
on his piUows, but he smiled cheeriully at
the Prince, and at his first words, he sat
np:
"Going away! To Karlburg!"
He took the telegrams and after reading
them through twice in feverish haste, he lay
back heavily and gazed, without saying
a word, past Harl Heinrich out at the fast
falling rain.
*' There is nothing to be done but go, my
dear Doctor?"
"No, that's the only thing for you to
do."
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"I am going to-night."
"Hm!"
"I think that I shall be back in a week
or a fortnight."
"Possibly."
"And during that time, my dear Doctor,
you shall want for nothing. I have spoken
to my Korps brothers and every morning
and every afternoon, one of them will visit
you. If you wish, I will also leave Lutz
here to wait on you."
The Doctor smiled feebly.
"No, thank you very much."
And Karl Heinrich also smiled. Herr
Lutz and the Doctor had never had much
in common, and here in the hospital they
would certainly understand each other.
even less.
But his smile soon faded. During the
last ftw days a marked change had come
over the Doctor. The fall face had gro^
haggard, on the blue cover of the bed l^y
his clasped hands, thin and white. More ,
and more the thought took hold of himy '
that the end would soon come.
Suddenly their eyes met. He wanted to
look aside, but could not. Perhaps the
"5
byGooglc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Doctor also tried to avoid his look, but lie
had even less strength. So they gazed
straight into each other's eyes, until Karl
Heinrich was deeply moved. He bit his lip
and tried to stare indifferently into space.
Then, as if from a great distance, he heard
the Doctor speak:
"Whatdoesit matter, Karl Heinz, sooner
or later ! It would be hard to find a more
beautiful spot in which to say good-bye
to the world. It doesn't require a poet to
appreciate it, going to sleep here quietly,
peacefully .... Let me rather talk of
yourself, Karl Heinz. You think of coming
back in a week or in a fortnight. It may
be so, but it may also be that you never
return. Keep young, Karl Heinrich, that is
the best I can wish for you. Remain as you
are, and if they try to change you — and
they will try— then fight against it. Let
your heart keep its warm, tender, human
interest. Perhaps a time will come when
you will think of these Heidelberg days and
of me with different feeUngs than you have
to-day, perhaps with despair or even rage ;
a time when you will say to yourself: 'I
ought not to have gone down to the level
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
of the others, and shoiJd have maintained
my dignity a little more.' They will all tell
you that you really did forget yourself and
that this short space of time is out of
accord with the rest of your life. But do
not believe them."
With the rain still falling in torrents,
the Prince went up to the castle and kept
climbing higher and higher, aimlessly, until
he reached the Konigstuhl. The roads were
muddy, and the rain, falling through the
fir trees to the moss below, kept u a con-
tinual drizzle. He coidd not see a hundred
yards ahead and the view of the Rhine val-
ley was entirely veiled ; but out of the forest
came such a fresh, sweet breath of nature,
that Karl Heinrich soon forgot his troubles.
Half an hour later, he was sitting in the
new glass summer-house that Herr Ruder
had built at great cost, and was drinking a
glass of good wine. Katie was beside him.
There was no one else in the garden, for
this was the Korps fighting day and others
did not come at that hour and certainly
not in such weather. It rained so hard now
that the drops made great bubbles as they
fell on the surface of the Neckar, and the
117
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
houses on the opposite shore could hardly
be seen. But Karl Heinrich's melancholy,
with which he had started the day, and in
which he had visited the poor Doctor, was
gone. In a few weeks, perhaps even sooner,
he would be back, and the good old Doctor
would be quite well again, and all these
forebodings of evil was nonsense.
"Go and get me a postal card, Katie!"
"What for?"
"I/Ct us write to the Doctor."
She opened her umbrella, lifted her skirts
daintily and tripped cautiously through
the inundated garden to the house. When
she returned with the card, he wrote :
"Dear Doctor: It's all stupid nonsense!
I shall be back in a fortnight to find you
well and healthy, and take you out of the
hospital. Katie and I drink to your health.
K. H."
"Send the Doctor a greeting, Katie."
She read attentively what he had written,
took his gold pencil, whose point she first
put between her lips, and wrote ;
"Karl Heinrich and I send you our very
best wishes. Katie."
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"What would you say, Katie," he asked,
"if I never came back?"
Very much surprised, she looked at
him.
"Never?"
"Never."
"But that is not possible I"
The blood left her cheeks, she grew
deathly pale.
"But, you are surely coming back?"
He laughed. He was so sure of it now
that he could make light of it. If it should
happen, though it was unUkely, that, for
some cause or another, they wanted to keep
him in Karlburg, he wotdd simply insist on
his return to Heidelberg. He was no longer
a boy, with whom they could do as they
pleased, and there was no power on earth
that could deprive him of his liberty, which
he had at last won for himself.
" Just suppose, Katie, that I should not
come back, never, never; what would you
do then?"
Her lips trembled; she wanted to say
something, but found no words. Then she
arose, went over to him and put her arms
round his neck.
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
"You are coming back, Karl Heinz. I
feel it deep down in my heart!"
Hour after hour passed, and, with the
rain still falling, the two sat together, with
Ruder's good wine before them. The aunts
in the kitchen, and Herr Ruder himself,
now and then looked through the opening
in the glass door, but did not disturb the
couple. A few guests came in during the
course of the afternoon, but they were kept
in the front room. When there was only
half an hour left in which to catch the
Frankfort express, Herr Ruder hitched his
horse to an old runabout and took the
reins himself, to drive his most illustrious
guest to the station.
No hereditary Prince had ever before
been driven to a station in such an un-
ceremonious way; a Uttle waitress waving
her handkerchief after him, a galloping
horse, a dilapidated carriage arriving at
the station spattered with mud, no luggage,
no servant, only a Herr Ruder who was half
drunk and whose name was taken by a
policeman on account of such fast driving.
With increasing excitement, Herr Lutz
had waited in the house until twenty min-
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
utes before train time, and how well he had
grown accustomed to the irregular habits
of His Highness was proved by his con-
clusion that his master would go direct to
the station at the last moment.
Wet through, without an overcoat, Karl
Heinrich jumped into his reserved compart-
ment. Herr Lutz had only just time to
draw His Highness' attention to overcoat,
rugs and bags and to hasten to his own
car, when the train moved out of the sta-
tion.
For a long time the Prince stood at the
window, and, even after Heidelberg had
disappeared, he still gazed out at the fog.
Finally, he took a deep breath, hke some-
one awakening from a dream. He took off
his silk Korps ribbon, which he wore over
his waistcoat, and put it in his pocket.
The dark-blue cap he put in a hat-box,
substituting for it a traveling hat.
The three red roses that Katie had given
him he kept in his hand. Sitting far back
on the soft red cushions, he tried to think
of Katie, but the picture of the Doctor
came constantly before his eyes. The poor
fellow was Ijring in the hospital and he,
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
Karl Heinrich, was on his way to Karl-
burg. Alone! Three months before they
had taken the same trip to Heidelberg,
together! Together!— Katie, the Doctor,
the Korps brothers, always together, always
jolly, always with others — and now he was
alone!
* » « • »
The Lord Chamberlain, the equerries,
two adjutants — ^it was a solemn reception,
due to His Highness the hereditary Prince.
The lackeys stood in a double row, with
their hats in their hands, and right and
left, behind these lines, stood a curious
public which, excited over the serious bul-
letins concerning the illness of His Serene
Highness, had come to the station in great
numbers.
So the hereditary Prince was coming !
They had summoned him by telegraph !
In a few days. His Highness, the heredi-
tary Prince, might be the reigning Prince !
They did not shout "Hoch," that would
not have suited the sad occasion, but all
hats were lifted and all the women bowed
to the future master.
Outside the station there was also a
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
large crowd; in fact, along the entire way
to the castle stood an uninterrupted hne
of people, all saluting silently.
Karl Heinrich sat beside the Lord Cham-
berlain. In the Prince's room in the station,
he had talked with the gentlemen of the
Court and with the Doctors, and they had
assured him that the greatest danger, which
had threatened the preceding night, seemed
to be over, and that a recovery of His
Highness was quite possible.
He did not speak a word. He held his
hat in his hand and bowed right and left.
"How gloomy he looks!" said the men.
"How sad he looks!" said the women.
And he kept on bowing.
Thousands of people saluted him, a whole
town !
It was only a short distance, and th6
&st horses brought him to the castle in a
very few minutes.
But it seemed as if, in that short spac^
of time, a hidden hand had gripped Hs -
heart and had crowded many things out of .
his life forever. - -^
The guard at the castle bridge presented \
arms, but there was no music.
jcKGdoqIc
OLD HEIDELBERG
He bowed.
The carriage stopped, and slowly, with-
out haste, he got out. He did not notice
the lackeys on both sides of the stairs,
straight on he went, without looking for
the Lord Chamberlain and the adjutants,
who followed two or three steps behind,
up the broad marble stairs.
He was back in Karlburg— now he was
"the Prince" again.
The days passed, then became weeks,
and out of the weeks grew months.
The Doctors were the real masters in the
castle of Karlburg, they Uved there and
hardly left the rooms of the old Prince.
The lackeys moved even more quietly
than usual, every loud sound in the castle
or its surroundings was forbidden, and
there was the silence of the grave in the
house and garden.
But the fear and sorrow, either deeply
felt or only assumed, which had been on
all faces during the first few weeks, slowly
disappeared. The servants yawned behind
the doors and the terrible weariness spread
from the sickroom, through the castle and
farther even, into the town of Karlburg.
134
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
No concerts, no diversion, no festivities,
every Sunday in the churches the very same
prayer for the sick Prince — a dreary same-
ness.
It was impossible for Karl Heinrich to
leave Karlburg. At first, he was restless
and nervous, and demanded of the Doctors
truthful reports of the illness. But later,
he grew accustomed to their shrugging of
shoulders, and,, at last, gave up the hope,
for the present, of returning to Heidelberg.
The load of government affairs, of which
he had made harder work than was neces-
sary, but which, at the same time, would
have been difficult under any circumstances,
claimed much of his time, while the dying
Prince naturally expected that his nephew
and heir should spend many hoturs in his
company. With his weak, hoarse voice,
often only a whisper, he talked of the past
and of the future, and in these dark hours
there came between uncle and nephew, who
had for twenty years lived together almost
as strangers, their first understanding. They
belonged together, the dying Prince and the
future Prince, and through the feverish
touch of the trembling hand, there passed
135
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
into the younger man an influence which
slowly changed his whole Hue of thought
and feeling.
"The Princes of this world live alone
on their thrones, a gulf never to be bridged
over separates them from all others, even
from those who, by reason of birth and
rank, stand as servants nearest their
thrones. And they ought to remain alone,
they must remain alone, — ^this is their most
difficult task, but herein lies also their great
strength. To stand in sohtary majesty, that
is the great secret of their power!"
At first, Karl Heinrich tried, half uncon-
sciously, to close his mind to these words,
but the daily repetition of them, in that
quiet sickroom, took possession of him and
broke down all his weak efforts to combat
them. He fought against them, but he
was too weak, too weak, just as in every
thing else he did.
And everybody bowed to him. The dy-
ing Prince was no longer master in the cas-
tle, — no, it was he, Karl Heinrich, to whom
they did homage. Formerly, as a young
Prince not in special favor with His Serene
Highness, and with the possibility of sue-
by GoOQJc
OLD HEIDELBERG
cession to the throne very vague and dis-
tant, the homage of the people at Court
had been cold and formal. Now, he was no
longer a child, but a man; no longer an
appUcant for the honors of an uncertain
future, but the new master, who, in a single
night, might assume his rights as reigning
Prince. It was a magic circle, which closed
round him, the humble homage of thou-
sands who suflfered no contradiction, and all
that in this mouldy, hothouse air, which
killed thought !
Months passed. Autumn came, and Win-
ter and Spring— a year had gone. But only
one year ! Why, it seemed like many. There
were times whenanoverwhelmingimpatience
seized him. Was this never going to end !
This bitter, cruel waiting ! But even this
impatience grew weak and powerless, and
passed away.
He was not well; his healthy color was
gone; but, when the old professor and the
other Doctors told him to take more ex-
ercise in the fresh air, he shrugged his
shoulders indifferently.
"There is nothing the matter with me,
I am not sick!"
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
In his writing desk lay the blue cap and
the colored sash from Heidelberg, next to
them three dried and faded roses— aU that
he kept to remind him of that time. Heidel-
berg ! When he thought of it, it seemed as
if iron chains were bound round his chest
and were suffocating him.
Gone ! Lost ! Lost forever !
Sometimes he tried to talk with Lutz
about Heidelberg. He did not care at all
for the fellow, but he kept him as his valet.
Perhaps for no other reason than that
Lutz was the only living remembrance of
that time. And Herr Lutz tried hard to
meet his master half way, to picture his
own miserable days in Heidelberg in a rosy
light and to revive little jokes of that time.
But his talk never sounded honest and
true. The beautiful picture of those three
months was distorted by his forced jokes
into something unlovely and unreal.
Otherwise, Herr Lutz was now the hap-
piest man at Court. His patient endur-
ance of that terrible time had borne golden
fruit, he was the coming man, before whom,
even now, all the lackeys humbled them-
selves. The reigning Prince's valet still
1 38
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
went through the house with a very proud
face, but his days were numbered: "Lutz"
was the name of the new star. While, to
Karl Heinrich, the recollection of Heidelberg
grew more and more dim, Kke a nursery
story that has lost its charm, the picture
of the students' town grew more beautiful
to Herr Lutz. To be sure, he had kicked
over the traces sometimes, had lived poorly
and had gone through many disagreeable
experiences, but, on the other hand, a great
many nice things had happened. He told
the chef all sorts of wonderful stories, of
merry love affairs, of entire nights spent
in drinking, and more "what a gentleman
does not talk about." Heidelberg had
made his fortune and Herr Lutz was not
ungrateful.
Since the end of the winter, the Doctor
had been sleeping his last sleep in Heidel-
berg. The notice of his death, which the
director of the hospital communicated in a
humble form to His Highness, did not come
to Karl Heinrich unexpectedly, but still it
seemed to him something incomprehensible.
But in all his pain the Prince had that
bitter feeUng of regret that if the Doctor
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
had died a year before, lie would have felt
and have suffered much, much more. If
life could ever have brought them together
again, they would never have understood
each other as before. He felt as if someone
had died whom he had loved very much,
long ago, but who was now so distant to
him that even if he had come to life again,
he could never have brought him back to
be to him what he had once been.
Commanded to do so by His Highness
the hereditary Prince the Lord Chamber-
lain had sent to the Korps "Saxonia" a
beautiful wreath to be put on the grave of
the Doctor. Later, a monument was erected
over the grave, with the inscription: "To
his friend and teacher, in grateful remem-
brance. — Karl Heinrich, Prince von Karl-
burg."
And Katie !
Yes, Katie!
Where was Katie now? He had no pic-
ture of her, for a small photograph which
she had given him once could not be found
in his trunks. But her image was engraved
in his heart. Katie !
Lost like all the others ....
130
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
On the Prince's writing desk stood, in a
gold frame, the picture ofthe young Saxon
Princess, his cousin, whose engagement to
Karl Heinrich had been one of the last
wishes of the dying Prince. She was a
handsome girl, with vivacious eyes and a
tall magnificent figure.
Karl Heinrich did not say "No," and the
beautiftd Princess was not dissatisfied. She
was a year older than the future reigning
Prince, as children they had played to-
gether; they had no cause to dislike each
other, and both for reasons of State and
because it was the wish of both families,
the marriage would, in every w
suitable one.
On account of the Prince's rece
however, the wedding could not
place.
Katie! .... Katie! ....
byGooqlc
the town and the castle, did not pass away.
Month after month went by and still there
lay over Court and castle a great quiet
and sadness.
"His Highness is still mourning," said
the people; but they hardly believed them-
selves in this weak excuse.
How much they had expected of this
young, almost too young Prince ! Happi-
ness and new ideas, changing, at last, the
sleepy Court and castle into a place of
pleasure and enjoyment. Visits of foreign
princes, balls, hunting, a ball of the citi-
zens in the new town hall, an interest in
the opera house, and, at any rate, a pleas-
ant face and sympathy for the wishes of
the town and of the land.
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
What a handsome young prince Karl
Heinrich had been, so natural and so kind !
When a child, in the presence of strangers,
he had always shown great reserve and
diffidence, but, then he was only a child !
When His Serene Highness now rode
through Karlburg, his adjutant beside him,
he replied indiflferently and coldly to all
salutes. He received the deputies of the
various towns in regal style, but only made
short answers to their speeches. During
the past ten years, the late Prince had been
proud, haughty and imperious, but the
young Prince seemed to be even more so.
The equerries and the people at Court
comforted each other by saying : " This will
all change when he is married,"and this de-
lusion found an echo in the citizens : "When
he is only married."
The wedding was fixed for the. 30th of
May; the solemn entrance of the princely
couple into Karlburg would take place on
the 4th of June. On the 5th of June a
great torchlight procession of the citizens,
on the 6th a great Court festival in the
castle, receptions, audiences and festivities
of all sorts during the following three days.
133
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
In the Lord Chamberlain's office they
worked day and night, a fererish zeal pos-
sessed castle and town, a great desire to
prepare everything in good order. The only
one who was, as usual, cold and indifferent
was he in whose honor all this was being
done.
About twelve days before the wedding,
something happened which, although it had
no after consequences, kept everyone, for a
few days, in a state of great excitement.
A funny looking old man, in a dress-coat
of antiquated style, was brought to the
equerry on duty, who introduced him to
His Excellency the Lord Chamberlain. The
old fellow had tried, in a very unceremon-
ious way, to gain an entrance to the castle,
pretending all the time that he wished to
speak with His Serene Highness.
"The man's name is Kellermann," ex-
plained the equerry to His Excellency,
"and he comes from Heidelberg. He wants
to ask a favor of His Highness, the ful-
fillment of which His Highness had prom-
ised him faithfully in Heidelberg."
His Excellency the Lord Chamberlain,
overworked and nervous, commanded them
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
to send the fellow away, to tell him to
send in his petition in the usual way; but
a presentiment told the equerry that His
Highness might want to see the old man.
During dinner, he took occasion to mention
the matter to His Highness.
"You say Kellermann?"
"Yes, Your Highness, the man's name is
Kellermann."
"From Heidelberg?"
"Yes, Your Highness, from Heidelberg."
"Very well. Send the man to my room
when dinner is over."
With the same calm, cold expression as
usual, the Prince finished his dinner, with-
out imdue haste, but a flood of recollections
almost overwhelmed him. Kellermann !
Heidelberg ! One of them ! To see one of
them at last ! Even if only Kellermann !
Poor Kellermann !
Coldly and indifferently he left his equer-
ries, went across to his library and opened
his writing desk. There was his cap, the
tri-colored sash, the three faded roses. . .
The lackeys in the ante-room looked at
each other and shook their heads. Again
they looked at each other and again they
135
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
shook their heads. For two hours that
strange looking fellow had been closeted
with His Highness and was still with him.
If they could only have looked inside
and seen the old man, in his shabby coat,
sitting in His Highness' armchair, while the
Prince had put his hand on Kellermann's
shoulder, and was bending over him, smil-
ing with quivering lips !
" This Kellermann ! He shall become my
head cellarman ! He hasn't forgotten what
I promised him long ago, coming even
from Heidelberg and in a dress-suit and
top-hat. Let me look at you, Kellermann.
Oh, how funny ! "
He laughed, the first time in years.
"All right, Kellermann, you shall stay;
you shall be ray head cellarman, that's un-
derstood. But I expect you are hungry and
thirsty now. When did you arrive?" He
pressed the button: "Bring wine and food
for this gentleman. Yes, here. No for-
raalities ! "
Twice he went up and down the room,
then stopped before the old man:
"Look at me, Kellermann. Do you still
know me? Did you recognize me?"
136
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"Certainly."
"Really? Did you?" His face grew
sober again. For a moment he put both
his hands to his temples and stared straight
in front of him. "It's two years ago!
People change so in that time, many things
may happen in two years!"
After a while he looked up wearily, for
Kellermann had timidly asked him a ques-
tion.
"Bring your wife! Why, certainly. But
she can't do my latmdry now, as she used
to in Heidelberg. Or did you think she
could?" He smiled again, and so did Herr
Kellermann.
"And, now, Kellermann, tell me all;
that is, the principal things. Tell me of
Heidelberg and of everybody."
But this narration did not come very
smoothly. He did not say a word of his
own accord, but waited to be questioned;
every question had to be put very simply,
and only after answering that could he put
his mind on a new subject. He was Uke
an old chronicle, out of which facts are
gleaned only after laborious searching, but
he had this advantage over those old
137
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
books ; he was more certain, and answered
at once.
Herr BUz was still with "Saxonia;"
also little Hammerschmidt, who had failed
to pass the Easter examination. Herr von
Bansin was now the best fighter in Heidel-
berg, remaining term after term for love of
it ; but all the others had left, most of them
having been gone some time.
"Ernst von Heidenreich?"
"Gone to Berlin."
"Franzius?"
"Gone to Berlin."
"And fat Kurt Engelbrecht?"
Herr Kellermann looked serious and said,
in a subdued voice :
"Gone to the other side, to America."
Only three were left in Heidelberg ! The
last three of that merry crew who had
never thought of the future, who had lived
as if they were to remain together forever !
And now they were scattered in all direc--
tions!
The servant brought wine and food,
which Herr Kellermann seemed to enjoy,
and, after a long interval, he again an-
swered the Prince's questions : where the
138
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
Doctor was buried, and if Kellermann had
seen the grave ; who hved now in Frau Dorf-
fel's rooms; did they still go to the castle
for their morning glass ; did they go every
Monday to Neckarsteipach, as they did
then ; was Herr Roux still the fencing master
and what of the fights ; did the Korps fight
in Heidelberg or in the villages, and then :
"How is Miss Katie?"
"Katie?"
"Yes, Miss Katie, in Ruder's restaurant?"
His voice broke and he blushed fiiriously.
But Herr Kellermann did not notice any-
thing, and answered, indifferently :
"Yes, she is still there."
"At Ruder's?"
"Yes, at Ruder's."
"And — and — how is she?"
"She is quite well." /
"She is still there? Just as she used to//
be? Those who visit Ruder's still f^^^^^^^H
there?"
" Certainly."
Karl Heinrich walked over to thi ^
window and looked out. Through t \(
path between the rows of hme ti v^
yond the park, where he sawp^B.^,,^.^^ \
OLD HEIDELBERG
stretdied away into the blue distance. Far
below on the castle walls, before the broad
moat, blossomed the lilacs, and over the
water flew the swallows, often passing close
to the window.
For two lonely years he had lived here,
far from the merry world, at the sickbed
of a pessimistic old man, who would not
die and who held him fast in his slowly
numbing hands. As for himself, he had
been too weak and too cowardly to tear
himself away forcibly.
Two long years ! Two years, in which
he might have been happy ! They seemed
to him like decades. And beyond these
decades lay his short youth, of which he
had scarcely thought and had now nearly
forgotten ! Forgotten ! Only weaklings
forget like that !
Heidelberg, the Korps, Katie — they were
indistinct memories, vague as a dream,
and now, this man had come and had
spoken of all this again, had told him that
everything was the same, the same as be-
fore — that there in Heidelberg, a day's jour-
ney, some hundred miles distant, the same
people still Hved ! That they enjoyed their
. . 140
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
lives, drank, laughed, loved— and aU this
without him, just as if a Prince Karl Hein-
rich had never existed, or, at least, had
never been necessary to them !
Out of the background of the room
sounded Herr Kellermann's voice, speaking
for the first time without being questioned.
Heavily and slowly, as if he was announc-
ing some deep philosophy, about which he
had been thinking during the last silent
minutes, he said :
"Heidelberg is not the same place that
it used to be. They all say so, even Herr
Bilz."
"Not the same place?"
"Not as it was once, while you were
there."
Karl Heinrich's eyes shone:
"Do they say so? Do they all say so?
Do they still talk of me in Heidelberg,
KeUermann?"
"Oh, yes."
"Did nobody ever ask" — ^he took the old
man by both shoulders and pulled him up
— "if I would ever come back? Or why I
didn't come back?"
"Yes, yes, very often."
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
"And the little one— the little girl at
Ruder's?"
"Katie?" Herr Kellermann was a Uttle
puzzled. Slowly he searched his memory.
"Katie?" Suddenly a thought seemed to
strike him, a chain of recollections opened
in his brain, and, half talking to himself,
he nodded his head :
"Katie! That's right! Yes, yes! She
has cried very much!"
* » « « »
"Please take care of the old man, my
dear Excellency. The man stood near me
during my life in Heidelberg, I should like
to know that he is well cared for."
The Lord Chamberlain was happy.
Those were the first kind words His High-
ness had ever spoken to him. And how
curiouslythePrince had spoken! So moved.
None of that usual cold reserve, which froze
everything around the Prince. But, what
had happened! "My dear Excellency!"
His Excellency himself accompanied the
old man to his rooms, the servants flew,
kitchen and cellar gave their best; Herr
Kellermann might well be satisfied !
But what had happened !
. . 142
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
At a late hour that night, the Prince
was still up. Youth — ^his lost, forgotten
youth— had knocked once more at the door,
and Karl Heinrich's tired, hardened heart
was touched.
In a few days he would go to bring his
bride to the castle of Kariburg, and on
that day would begin for him the long
years of a settled life. From that day on
everything was clear, prescribed, calculated ;
every step and every action planned before-
hand ; the whole future life a straight road,
in which there is no chance turning until
the end is reached. The life of a citizen
can be full of changes, foil of ups and downs,
but that of a Prince is calculated and ad-
justed, certain and monotonous for all time.
Only one friend, who might sit there
now and say;
"It can't be helped, Karl Heinrich, you
must bear it."
Some one to comfort and cheer him !
"My God! My God!"
He was beside himself.
Deathly silence!
Outside in the park the night wind
rustled through the trees, but the castle
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byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
slept. Karlburg slept— the town, the coun-
try, everything was sleeping here.
Midnight! There they sat in Ruder's
garden in Heidelberg; they sang, drank,
laughed, and, looking at the clock, said :
"It's only midnight."
And then Katie, in her white apron,
came through the garden, yawning and
rubbing her eyes with her Httle fists; they
all laughed, and Karl Heinrich held up his
glass to her :
"Drink, Katie; wake up!"
"Prosit, Karl Heinz! Live long and
well!"
Who said that! He got up, and from
the window he looked into the dimly
Ughted room. Who had spoken those
words ! There, outside of the room, some-
where !
"It was the Doctor's voice 1 "Prosit,
Karl Heinz, live long and well!"
The Prince trembled all over. He crossed
the room, turned on the hght and emptied
a large wineglass at one draught.
"Live long and well!" Yes, he lived,
and the Doctor, who had said this a thou-
sand times, mouldered in the grave.
byGoot^lc
OLD HEIDELBERG
"Live long and well!" Yes, Karl Heinz
still lived, a beautiiiil life !
He filled the glass again and lifted it
up. He stared at the dark comer, raising
the glass :
" Doctor ! "
And, when the dead silence continued :
"To you!"
Herr Lutz sat outside in the waiting-
room fighting with sleep, for hours. Not
since the time at Heidelberg had he been
kept awake so late. At various times he
Ustened at the door to see if His Highness
while sitting at his writing-desk, had not
been overcome by sleep, but, again and
again, he heard the muffled steps of the
Prince, as he walked up and down. What
had happened !
But Herr Lutz could no longer think.
He was so weary that his body seemed
still awake, but his brain was entirely numb.
What a good thing that the wedding was
soon to come ofi". Then he would go to
bed punctually and live as he should.
At last — it was about three o'clock — he
heard the welcome call of the bell.
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
*'AU right!"
Herr Lutz arose and in the next moment
he was in His Highness' room.
The morning was breaking, and, in the
pale light, the Prince stood at the window,
indistinct in the grey shadows of the dawn.
"Are you still awake, Lutz?"
"Most certainly, Your Highness."
"Yon mustn't go to sleep, Lutz. Wake
up the servants, I want my trunks packed.
Let someone inform His Excellency the Lord
Chamberlain. I am going on a journey."
"Going on ?"
"You shall accompany me, you alone,
Lutz. We are going to Heidelberg."
"H— Heidelberg ?"
"Only for a day or two. We shall be
back Saturday evening. There is not a
minute to be lost. Hurry up!"
Herr Lutz went, his head bent low, Uke
one who has been given a severe blow and
who is therefore unable to think.
Karl Heinrich still stood at the window,
and, with a beaming face, looked out at
the bright morning.
"Once more!"
"Just once more!"
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byGOOQJC
^^P3:?#ff??K:
^. ^^;--^-^.r/ 'kJ]^^^- -^^""^^^
CHAPTER VIII
^" Once more Karl Heinrich was on his way
to Heidelberg.
It was in May, just as it was two years
ago. He passed the same villages, miUs,
fields and towns as then, the train climbed
the heights of the Main and there, there,
in the distance, lay South Germany.
The sun was high in the heaven, it was
hot, almost suffocating. The Prince pulled
the curtains down and shut his eyes; he
was tired. He had not slept for thirty
hours and now a reaction was replacing
the passionate excitement of the night
before.
What object did he have in making this
journey? None. What did he wailt in
Heidelberg, anyway? They wouldn't know
what to think in Karlburg now, and every-
one, from Secretary of State down to the
last stable boy, would call this journey
the act of a madman, a stupid, rash deed,
of whidi only a young student could be
capable.
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
Nervously he put his head between his
hands : it would be best, perhaps, to return
and not finish this Quixotic journey.
But, then, they would be even more sur-
prised, and would shake their wise heads.
Everyone in the world can allow himself
such extravagances occasionally — everyone
except the one hundreds of thousands look
up to, and whose slightest action is criti-
cised.
It was terribly hot; he raised the blinds
agaia and leaned far out of the window,
so that the cloud of dust raised by the
train whirled about his head.
"Nothing matters!" Let those spies
at home laugh or make fiin of him, let
them,^to-day he, Karl Heinrich, was a free
man!
On, On ! How the train rushed along !
Farther and farther! No one could catch
him now! The yelping pack remained far
behind and he was free! He shut his eyes
and let the wind blow fall in his face. That
was good, it felt like a fight!
Wasn't it the same sensation he had
felt so long ago when the tall "VandaUa"
student had struck him through his guard
148
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
in the face, again and again ! Grand !
Ready for fight!
To fight I What is there finer on God's
earth ! Nothing more horrible than this
slow dozing and sleeping, to be made much
of, but still to be under guardianship and,
worse than all else, to slowly moulder away.
His muscles were tense almost to burst-
ing. On ! On ! To-night in Heidelberg !
They had not yet subdued him in Karlburg,
he still had the courage to make this wild,
lawless journey! And he should be happy,
happy for only two days, but two such
happy days!
"Wer reitet mit zwanzig Knappen ein
Zu Heidelberg im Hirschen?"
Half to himself he sang the song, then
louder and louder, and, at last, wit^
iull voice:
"Hollahehl den Hahn ins Pass !
ein!"
Before him lay the sunn:
Main. How is it the so:
. . I see the country rou:
lie at my feet "
vGooqIc
OLD HEIDELBERG
It is so beautiiul here, so beautiful!
And he was still so young— he, Karl
Heinz! Only twenty-two years old. The
whole world ought to have been open to
him, but at home they had taken his Ught
and air, they had walled him in.
Arrived in Frankfort, he thought for a
moment of leaving the train. The station
restaurant was right in front of him, and
everyone was crowding to get in. Why
didn't he go along with the others? He
did it two years ago, when he went there
with the Doctor, enjoying the new-found
liberty. Nobody knew him excepting, per-
haps, the gfuards and Lutz — so why
shouldn't he?
"Twenty minutes' stop!" the guards
called out, and all the travelers went into
the various parts of the station. Only a
few elderly ladies remained in their com-
partments.
Karl Heinrich got up and started to
leave, but went back again and closed the
door. He had become more dependent on
others than ever, more so even than two
years ago. It was so easy to go there like
the others, to move about quietly, to call
150
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
the waiter, to order something and to pay —
but, still, he could not. He could not.
He tried once more, but a cold perspira-
tion broke out on his forehead. The train
had left Frankfort long since, but the
Prince still sat back on his cushions, star-
ing at the opposite wall, his arms hang-
ing down weakly.
"I am Hke a marionette, able to dance
only when the wires are pulled. Stupid
as a child, and as cowardly!"
A grim smile passed across his face. He
was running away to be free, if only for two
days ! He who could hardly walk a step
alone! He who knocked himself at every
turn, looked at everything in the wrong
light and who wouldn't be able to speak
one natural word in Heidelberg!
Village after village passed by. Wein-
heim — here he had danced for half a night
with a beautifiil blond, whose lovely hair
hung down her back in two long braids.
Jugeuheim. He smiled weakly. Here had
occurred that mad aflfair with the young
ladies ftom the convent at Darmstadt.
And that was only two years ago ! No
longer?
iSi
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Another ten minutes, eight, five, three —
then the first houses— and now: The
Neckar.
His heart was nearly bursting.
"Heidelberg!"
"Five minutes' stop!"
Once the Doctor, with his dry humor,
had said: "A year's stop;" a faint smile
passed over Karl Heinrich's face, and, lean-
ing against the door, waiting for the guard,
he murmured to himself: "Two days' stop
— ^two days — two "
He passed through the crowd, Lutz be-
side him, and entered a carriage. He knew
every house they passed, and even saw
them all, but his thoughts were far away,
were nowhere. "A year's stop" — ^that was
all he could think of. Also that, for the
Doctor, that " one year's stop" had become
an eternal residence. But this thought was
not a sentimental one, but came to him
Uke a mathematical deduction, entering his
head because his brain refused, just then,
to think of something reasonable. He might
just as well have thought: "Three times
nine are twenty-seven." It seemed as if
his head and his thinking powers were
15a
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
exposed to an enormous pressure, reducing
his brain to the si2e of a hazehiut.
The carriage drove across the market-
place : there was Frau Dorffel's house, with
the six front windows behind which he
had lived.
He nodded stupidly to himself: "Yes,
yes!"
Arriving at the Hotel Prinz Carl, Herr
Lutz whispered a few words into the head
porter's ear, and, in a few seconds the
whole house was in a state of excitement.
Everybody bowed deeply when the Prince,
with his cold, indifferent face, went up the
stairs. Herr Lutz, looking anxiously at
his master, gave him his arm for support,
and the Prince leaned heavily on it, until
they reached his rooms, where he sat down
in an armchair.
With closed eyes, the Prince sat there
for some time.
"Your Highness '*
"What is it?" He opened his eyes and
looked about like one just aroused from a
long, heavy dream.
"Your Highness should take some rest.
Your Highness is overtired."
1S3
byGoot^lc
OLD HEIDELBERG
And as the Prince stared at him, ap-
parently without seeing or understanding
him, he added :
"Your Highness is in Heidelberg."
"Yes, yes."
A faint, tired smile passed across Karl
Heinrich's face, a smile which Herr Lutz did
not notice, or, at least, did not understand.
"In Heidelberg. Quite right. Yes, I
will go to sleep now."
* • « • ♦
Dressed to perfection, the tri-colored
sash across the low-cut dress waistcoat,
in every way "comme il faut," the Korps
"Saxonia," consisting of five "old gentle-
men," ten "Burschen," and eight "foxes,"
assembled in His Highness' reception room,
to be received by him in audience.
It was ten o'clock in the morning.
They stood about in groups, whispering
to each other. Herr Bilz went fi-om one to
another and, in his melancholy voice, gave
the last instructions, especially to the two
younger men. But Herr Bilz was excited
himsdf. He had been in Heidelberg for
twenty-four terms and had made the ac-
quaintance of many men, but never had he
154
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
spoken to a real reigning Prince. He
thought of the speech with which he would
welcome His Highness, but now found it
stupid and absurd. Nothing was more
difficult than this short speech. It might
be too solemn or too cordial, too pathetic
or too cool, by the least wrong word he
might spoil everything.
Again he went over to the "foxes:"
"You keep back untU I give you a sign.
Only speak when the Prince addresses you.
For God's sake, Winz, look at yourself!
What sort of a dress-coat have you got
on?"
"I have borrowed it," Winz said, fright-
ened.
"Oh, oh!" Herr Bilz's voice sounded
even more melancholy, but he did not pur-
sue the fatal subject. "Stay behind the
others, let nobody see you!"
A feeling of awe seemed to have come
over the whole Korps. A reigning Prince
who, in a certain sense, belonged to "Sax-
onia," and who invited "Sasonia" to his
rooms ! There was no other Korps in
Heidelberg that could boast of such an
honor.
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
Someone in a dress-coat and silk breeches
pushed open the doors and then stepped
solemnly aside. For a few seconds, they
gazed into the next room; then steps were
heard, coming across the soft carpet, and
in the open doorway stood the Prince.
He was dressed in a black morning
coat. His face was pale, except that on
his left cheek glowed two red scars. His
right hand was raised, as if to give it to
the first one he recognized.
But in the room before him, all were
bowing deeply. Herr Biiz stepped to the
front:
"Your Highness "
His look encountered that of his former
friend, who stared at him as if to say :
"Aren't you coming? Won't you give me
your hand? Karl Bilz! . . .
And Herr Bilz lost his nerve :
"Your Highness give — have — do us the
honor-^we are all grateful— and honor, which
everyone of us — knows how to appreciate —
and therefore — ^we beg to welcome Your
Highness to Heidelberg in all sincerity,
most heartily and respectfully."
The Prince took a step forward and
156
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OLD HEIDELBERG
nodded curtly. His face was cold and stern
again.
"Will you be kind enough, Herr Bilz, to
introduce to me your Korps brothers."
Herr Bilz obeyed. He got the names
all mixed, but that didn't matter.
And the Prince spoke to each one of
them.
"How many terms have you been here?'*
"How do you like Heidelberg?" "You
study law?" "Where do your parents
live?" "Will you stay here for some time?"
— and so on.
After the introductions were over, he
addressed Herr Bilz:
"Will you and the other gentlemen be
my guests for dinner? I am leaving to-
night, so please come at three o'clock."
He nodded curtly, bowed to the re
them and returned to his room.
The gentleman in dress-coat am
breeches closed the doors— the
was over.
Ten carriages, in which the students
arrived and in which they now drove
stood most solemnly before the hotel. P|
glowed on the young faces, and all Heii
157
byGoqi^lc
OLD HEIDELBERG
berg, students and citizens, gazed after them.
The Prince had received them in a solemn
audience, they really were to be envied !
Karl Heinrich stood in the middle of his
room, leaning heavily on the back of a
chair. The ridiculous dream of two days
was over. . . .
At noon, the Prince drove, in a closed
carriage, to the cemetery. He had fought
with himself as to whether he ought to
fulfill this last duty which bound him to
Heidelberg or not, but at last his better
self conquered, and he went.
The grave-digger, who did not know
him, took him to the Doctor's last resting
place and said, excusing himself: "It is
not in order as yet, but there is always a
lot to do in the beginning of Spring, and we
shall start here next week."
"It's all right."
The man wanted to tell him more, but
he sent him away.
A Httle white plant had overgrown the
whole grave, several faded wreaths, with
dirty silk ribbons, lay at one side, the iron
fence stood bare and unfinished, and the
only thing of dignity about the grave was
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byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
the marble cross, with the mscription :
*'To his friend and teacher, in grateful
remembrance. — Karl Heinrich, Prince von
Karlburg."
For a long time, Karl Heinrich looked
down upon this forgotten grave, which
had certainly not been visited by anyone
since the poor Doctor's burial. He bent
down and broke oflf one of the silver-gfrey
leaves, to keep it, but soon after, he took
it thoughtlessly between his lips, and finally
dropped it.
It was remarkable how quietly and in-
differently he remained at the grave of one
who was once his friend ! Suddenly, he
had the ridiculous feeling that the departed,
while alive, had really often neglected his
duty, and— look at it in whatever way you
please — had, as a tutor, permitted himself
extraordinary liberties.
The terrible awakening of to-day, the
hopelessness, the icy coldness of the past
two years— all this rushed upon his memory.
What, this man down there, he had been
his only friend ! What a shame ! A drunk-
ard, a chatter-box, a man without any
serious thoughts whatever!
byGOOQJC
OLD HEIDELBERG
And yet, the Doctor had meant well,
he really had.
They had spent many happy hours to-
gether — long ago, in Karlburg, when the
Doctor, contrary to orders, gave him cigar-
ettes, which they smoked in a room far
up in the tower. He smiled. And then
here, ' in Heidelberg ! He turned to look
for the castle, which stood forth in relief
against the forest green.
What a crazy fellow the Doctor was
then ! How comically he used to play on
a concertina, so that all the Englishmen
stopped to listen, their staid British faces
breaking into smiles.
"Prosit, Karl Heinz, live happy and
well!" The Doctor's eternal toast.
The Prince bowed his head over the
neglected grave : "Poor Doctor!"
He took the faded wreaths and put
them outside the railing. With both hands
he pulled out the weeds which grew a foot
high between grave and fence, and threw
them out, also. He worked for more than
half an hour to clear the narrow paths
round the grave inside the enclosure.
When he had finished, he sighed deeply.
byGooqlc
OLD HEIDELBERG
How much nicer and brighter it looked
now! He took off his soiled gloves and was
going to throw them out with the wreaths
and weeds, but, instead of doing so, he
folded them and put them in his pocket.
When, half an hour later, he left the
cemetery, he felt better. And if this journey
of yesterday and to-day to Heidelberg had
been to no purpose, his time had not been
entirely lost. The hour at the Doctor's
grave alone was worth it all.
The conversation at the dinner table
was not a lively one, but it was not the
fault of the host. Karl Heinrich sat in the
center, next to Karl Bik, who was slowly
overcoming his embarrassment and who
had nothing else to do but to tell of the
past two years. Twice the Prince raised
his glass to him: "To your health, my
dear Bilz ! " After the third course, the
Senior arose and, at the end of a short
speech, called upon the Korps "to drink to
the health of him, who, being a member
of "Saxonia," famishes the brightest spot
in the history of the Korps, now and for all
time. His Highness proves, by his presence
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among us, that he remembers with pleasure
the happy time which I and all those who
took part in it, will never forget."
A jubilant "Hoch" rang through the
room, the waiters rushed round the tables
with champagne, the glasses clicked, and,
bowing on all sides, touching his glass
Ughtly with those of his neighbors, the
Prince stood in the midst of them all.
They all grew Uvelier, and when, shortly
before dinner was over, the Prince raised
his glass, and, after a few friendly words,
saluted the Korps with "Saxonia, vivat,
floreat, crescat, in aetemum ! "^the spell
was broken. He was surrounded and cheered
by everybody.
But this was at the height of the excite-
ment, which could not continue long. Every-
one grew quiet again. His Highness was
certainly very affable, very kind and very
nice, but even the most foolish "fox" felt
that there was a line drawn somewhere.
This soon showed itself. The conversation
touched on the departure of the Prince.
He looked at his watch and said that he
would have to leave in about an hour's
time. But they all expressed a great deal
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OLD HEIDELBERG
of regret and begged Hm to stay that
evening. Such a beautiful evening, too.
They would go to the castle or to Neckar-
gemund or take a trip on the Neckar, with
music and Japanese lanterns!
The Prince smiled, but a Uttle coldly
and constrainedly. The well-meant but
rather exaggerated urging became so gen-
eral that, at last, he consented to stay.
But from that time on, he sat there, quiet
and mute, Hke one who has gone too far.
And everybody seemed to recognize the fact.
A general sentiment of restraint seemed to
overspread the table, conversation became
quieter, stopped, started again with diffi-
culty, and finally stopped altogether. The
heated faces looked stupid and the wine
in the glasses remained untouched.
They took coflFee at the castle, and up
there, in the fresh air, the Prince became
quite unconstrained again. It was a day
of continually changing sentiments. A band
was playing, all around sat the families of
the Heidelberg professors and citizens, the
ladies giving all their attention and looks to
the young Prince. He knew most of them
by sight; he had danced with the young
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OLD HEIDELBERG
lady over there in Jugenheim, she blushed
fiiriously when he looked at her. Here,
there, everywhere — well known faces.
The President of the University passed
with his ladies, the Korps saluted, so did
Karl Heinrich, and the President, who did
not know him, returned the salute indif-
ferently.
Just as it used to be !
Towards evening, the Prince strolled with
his Korps along the hills and meadows of
the Neckar. A deep peace had come over
him. Herr Bilz walked beside him, talking
of past events ; he heard the voices of the
others close behind him, but the words and
sounds seemed to come from a distance.
He felt like a tired wanderer who has but
a day to rest. To-morrow he must go
away, never to return to the students, to
Heidelberg. He felt this without regret.
They had all been very friendly and atten-
tive, but, on the whole, he was a stranger
to them. Instead of the old "Du" and
"Karl Heinrich," it was now the stiff "Your
Highness." He would not regret this day,
for it had once more renewed his youth —
not, however, in the golden sunshine of
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OLD HEIDELBERG
the mommg, but in the dull light of
evening.
Once or twice he glanced at Karl Bilz.
Years ago they had done the same foolish
things, had drunk and fought together,
said "du" to each other, and to-day, this
same Karl Bilz walked beside him Uke a
guide, relating matters of interest to His
Highness out of the chronicles of Heidel-
berg.
No ! He ought to have gone ! And
to-day ! Viewing it in the proper light, he
felt that this day had slowly killed all the
recollections of his youth and that they
would never be revived.
Not one word from the warm heart of
a friend, not one who would say: "You
have been our good friend and we all loved
you. To-day you are raised far above us^
but we shall always think of you, we willl
never forget you! We have been young U
together ! "
But, nothing, nothing ! !
"Over there is Neckargemund,'
Herr Bilz.
"Yes, Neckargemund."
Late in the evening, they returned to
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OLD HEIDELBERG
Heidelberg in six boats. The musicians
in the first boat played the eternal student
songs, which, to those who hear them
every day, sound so tiresome, but which
go right to the heart of one who hears
them again after long years.
The Prince sat in the second boat, his
hand touching the water. After the heavy
rain of the week before, the Neckar was
very swift, so that they soon reached Heid-
elberg. In the distance, they saw, on the
right bank, a wall lighted up by Japanese
lanterns. "There is Ruder's restaurant,"
said Herr Bilz.
"Where?" Karl Heinrich started.
" Over there." And, after a few moments,
Herr Bilz added; "The Korps do not
visit Ruder's place any more, or very rarely.
But Your Highness remembers Ruder? We
spent many a night together there."
"Why don't the Korps visit Ruder's any
more?"
" Well, there is no real cause. It is, here
in Heidelberg as, perhaps, everywhere, a
matter of fashion. It may be that the
beer was no longer good. The Korps go
to Neckargemund now."
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OLD HEIDELBERG
"Indeed!"
And it happens there is very little to do
at Ruder's now. New customers are not
found so easily."
The Prince did not answer. Out of the
dark night, which lay over the Neckar, the
lanterns came nearer. They were poor
miserable lanterns, with small Hghts, sway-
ing in the breeze. The wall reached out
of the stream, massive and strong, while
the lime trees in the feebly lighted garden
shone in their pale green. The music in the
first boat had stopped — only the splashing
of the oars and individual words from the
boat behind broke the silence.
Now the Prince's boat was passing the -c^
wall. He got a glimpse of the garden,
which was nearly empty. On the right and
farther back, sat a few people, and close to
the wall stood a female figure, which, in
the darkness, could be seen only in outline.
And slowly the lanterns disappeared, the
boats drifted down stream.
Ruder's restaurant. Then it disappeared
in the night. Ruined also, also faded.
The music started again in the first
boat, loud, shrill: "Light Cavalry!"
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OLD HEIDELBERG
Then the Prince started up, a cold per-
spiration breaking out on his forehead.
"Turn back!"
"What?" Herr Bilz and the four others
in the boat were surprised.
"Tell them to turn back. To Ruder' s."
"To ?"
"Yes."
Herr Bilz was so surprised that for a
moment he did not know what to do. But
the others called out :
" Music ! Turn back ! "
With a loud discord, the music stopped,
the other boats came up out of the dark,
there was a lot of calling and questioning :
" Turn back ! To Ruder's ! ! " They had to
be careful not to tip each other over. It
took some time for the procession to get
into order again, and rowing hard against
the stream, they returned.
The music started, "Old Heidelberg,
how beautiful," the lanterns grew more and
more distinct, then they saw a commotion
in the garden, Herr Ruder running excitedly
to the landing bridge, and there
Katie!
There she was ! She put her hand over
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her eyes, to peer more easily into the dark-
ness. She waited quietly and let the musi-
cians' boat, which made room for the others,
pass her.
At last, she recognized the caps.
"The Saxonians ! At last you are com-
ing back ! "
The first to jump ashore was Karl Bilz ;
she gave him her hand :
"You are such bad boys not to come
here any more."
Then — her eyes opened wide, she took
a step backward, as if a ghost out of the
dark Neckar had appeared before her— then
a scream, a scream which pierced every-
thing and everybody:
"Karl Heinz!"
Everything was deathly still, not a word
was spoken, only the Neckar roared and
tossed the last boat violently against the
beams of the landing :
"You! You!! You!!!"
She held him firmly and pressed close
to him, close to his face.
It was a singular night, this last night
in Heidelberg. With glowing and happy
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OLD HEIDELBERG
eyes, the young students looked at Karl
Heinrich of Karlburg, who again wore cap
and sash and sat among them, young as
they themselves. They all seemed to under-
stand now, what this night meant for him,
who to-day, in bright daylight, had been
so cold and silent.
A last night!
The band was playing, and, with a
bright smile, which looked a little out of
place on his sorrowful face, Herr Kuder
walked up and down ; outside of the hedge
again stood the boys and girls of the neigh-
borhood, who, for a long time, had missed
the music in Ruder's garden.
Everything would turn out now for the
best. All the students would come back
every day, even more than formerly. He
would have a memorial plate made, with
the name of his distinguished guest, in
remembrance of this day. And then— he
could scarcely think — what good business
would come.
"My darling Katie!"
Karl Heinrich put his arm round her
neck, as they sat in the shadow of the
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OLD HEIDELBERG
two old lime trees. In the distance, they
saw the well lighted garden, where Hen-
Ruder, though his guests had been there
for hours, was still having new lanterns
put up.
It was no longer the little, sweet Katie
of long ago. There was a strange, sad,
almost an aged expression on her face ; but
Karl Heinrich and the girl held each other
closely, like two who have once more found
each other only to say good-bye forever.
They did not talk much, they never had
spoken much to each other. They said
but little of the past two years, and the
future was only just touched upon. What
could they say about it!
She had read in the newspapers that he
was to marry, and marry very soon; she
knew it was inevitable.
"And you, Katie?"
"I am going back to Austria, Karl
Heinz. Franzl writes me every three months
to come back, he will marry me now."
Silently they sat close to each other,
but from time to time she whispered, as
she kissed him: "Karl Heinz," and he
murmured back: "Katie."
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They exchanged their meagre reminis-
cences: "Do you still know?" "Do you
remember when?" — all of no importance
whatever, but which appeared, in this last
hour, as beautiful as though they came
from wonderland.
"Do you remember the day, Karl Heinz,
when you went away?"
"Yes, my darling."
"And when you said: 'I am coming
back!' And now you have come back."
He held her on his lap and rocked her
slowly back and forth, lost in a dream.
She, the only one he had found again in
Heidelberg, the only one to remind him of
his youth !
"Katie?"
"What, dear?"
"We will always love each other. I shall
never forget you and you won't forget me.
We will not see each other again, but we
will not forget. Katie ! I shall never for-
get you, never! never! ! never! ! !"
The music had stopped long ago, they
had not noticed it.
The garden was empty, the students had
gone, they had seen nothing. They had
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OLD HEIDELBERG
tactfully saved Karl Heinrich the saying
of good-bye.
One after another of the lanterns went
out, but Herr Ruder kept faithful guard
on the veranda. There was no sound but
the roar of the Neckar.
Hour after hour passed, until the first
cock crowed and the grey morning shadows
were gliding over the river.
Hand in hand they left the garden for
the quiet road. Katie went with him for
a hundred yards, up to the spot where the
first gardens of the town begin.
Then they stood and embraced for the
last time.
" Katie "
"Karl Heinz "
He looked back once more, bef
winding of the road shut her from
There Katie stood, leaning against
her arms hanging down weakly. H
no longer recognize her face; she c
move, she lifted no hand.
It was Sunday morning.
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